By MIKE DILLON
If you go to the yearling sales looking for a filly to race throw away the catalogue.
Forget the breeding, pick out a filly who gives the impression she'd like to kick your back teeth over Eden Park's ASB Stand.
You could end up with a Sunline, Soap Opera or a Showella.
All three believe we mere humans were put on this earth as servants for good racehorses.
But that same spirit which breaks hearts in humans, also breaks the hearts of equine rivals as the three outstanding New Zealand mares have proved over the last couple of seasons.
Trainer Paul O'Sullivan admits he would have given up on Soap Opera 100 times had it not been for his patient and highly talented stable employee Roxanne Basher.
"What Roxanne has done with this mare has been fantastic," said O'Sullivan from Sydney yesterday.
"You can't drench her, you can't do her teeth and she's hated working left-handed, but Roxanne has hung in there where most wouldn't."
Soap Opera is so single-minded and cranky she has to be tranquilised once a year to have her teeth done.
"The positive side is she has become slightly better in her racing manners, which has resulted in a much more consistent formline.
"Previously, she had to be placed in the first three in her races, otherwise, if she got horses around her she wouldn't try.
"Now she is much more tractable."
O'Sullivan accepts he would have been left with not much of a racehorse if he'd tried to overpower Soap Opera into submission.
"You try and conform them all at the beginning, but when you get one like her you put your hands up and accept it."
Through patience and persistence Basher has managed to get Soap Opera to work left-handed in training, but the mare still refuses to accept left-handed racing.
"That's why I think after the Easter Handicap at Ellerslie we'll bring her here to Sydney and try for a race like the Emancipation Stakes.
"There is nothing for her at all at home after Easter and if we wait until her next campaign, we're looking at November, because all the good racing until then is in the central districts on left-handed tracks.
"The good thing about her now is her acceptance to race anywhere in a field rather than in the first three. The last horse you want to try and bring to Sydney is a short-course type who has to race handy.
"They run so fast early here that you can almost never guarantee sitting handy because there will be four or five horses as quick, instead of maybe one at home.
"Here it's hard to take up the spot you normally take at home. They're too quick."
Soap Opera's group two $120,000 Japan/NZ International Trophy win at Tauranga on Saturday was a huge result - the mare had clocked up nearly double figure placings in group events without winning one.
But the day was not a complete success for Paul O'Sullivan.
His St Leger winner Forfar has to barrier trial this week before being allowed to race again in Sydney after having to be scratched from Saturday's $A70,000 Manion Cup at Rosehill when she kicked out in the barriers and knocked a hock.
"It was only partly her fault," said O'Sullivan.
"They closed the gate when she was not properly in and she kicked out and that was the end of it.
"They've got pretty strict here about barrier trialling before being allowed to race again if you do something wrong. It seems you only have to look sideways to get the yellow card.
"Acuity ran a shocker here the other day after winning by seven lengths the start before and she has to trial successfully before she's allowed back to the races. They're doing everything they can to protect the punter, which is fair enough"
Racing: Better attitude pays off for Soap Opera
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