By MIKE DILLON
Peter Walker never intended to race horses in group-rated races.
Not the ones he hacks about with anyway.
Walker knows he's a truckie trying his hand at training racehorses to keep himself out of mischief in retirement.
The good ones he owns, like champion mare Tycoon Lil, he entrusts to professionals like Colin Jillings and Richard Yuill and he has several scattered around the stables of other leading trainers.
But one just happened to stick around, and that nuggety little bloke, Bareall, might give Walker his first taste of home-trained group success in tomorrow night's $60,000 Anziyan Classic at Avondale.
Walker considered sending Bareall to the Jillings/Yuill stable, but found the gelding liked the home environment of his Clevedon farm so he decided to keep him.
With six wins from 12 starts, that hasn't seemed a bad decision.
But victory tomorrow night would far exceed the thrill of all those six wins.
It's a race Walker feels he should have got some of with Bareall last year.
"He was carted off the track on the home bend by Samboa in this race last year. At the same time it cost him his chance, it injured his leg and I couldn't get him right for the rest of the season.
"He's a different horse now. His leg's fine and he's a lot stronger."
To prove Walker's point, Bareall was an unlucky third behind Catamarca when resuming at Counties last Saturday week.
Rider Jim Collett attempted an inside gap early in the home straight, which had he received Bareall would have gone close to beating Catamarca. Bareall was again briefly held up for racing room when Collett pulled him out three places for a run and he motored home to be only threequarters of a length and a neck from the flying Catamarca.
At No 7 Bareall is drawn out a couple of places further than Walker would have preferred, but the track worries him more.
The weather in the next 24 hours will be crucial, but he may not have to worry about reasonable footing.
Against the usual pattern, Ellerslie received 50mm of rain during the Saturday night and Sunday morning deluge, but Avondale copped only 30mm.
"The track this morning was easy at 3.3," said Avondale CEO Murray Earl, "and with a clearing forecast I'm confident we can get back to just about firm footing."
Strong winds helped dry the Avondale track yesterday.
"While I'd love to see it firm, Bareall is okay provided the footing isn't slippery," said Walker. "If it is, he won't fire at all."
Buster Brookfield, a last-start winner at Wanganui, has a determined finish in these top sprints and can pose a threat. The fact that track may have a little give in it will aid his chances.
* The Auckland Racing's Club's scheme to increase stakes beyond a set number of starters per race resulted in an additional $32,500 taken away from Ellerslie on Saturday.
The ARC increases stakes by 50 per cent if thresholds of 11 and 13 are met at various distances and that was the case in seven of the nine eligible races on Saturday.
"The previous largest number of bonuses we'd paid was four," said ARC chief executive David Lloyd.
Racing: Bareall win would be so much sweeter this time
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