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There is a joke in racing that jockeys are the world's worst judges.
There was a dollar each-way proof of that at Ellerslie and Trentham on Saturday.
Difficult to imagine Jonathan Riddell arrived back in the Trentham jockeys' room with a belly laugh after race four.
Riddell had just been beaten by a lip on the impressive Kawi by Mighty Soloman, a horse he had been riding.
When the two horses met at their previous start Riddell was on Mighty Soloman and Kawi beat him by a nose.
This time Riddell switched to Kawi and Mighty Soloman downed him by the narrowest of margins.
To be fair to Riddell, with margins that close you can't say he made a bad call either time, but that would not have lessened the frustration.
At Ellerslie, Michael Coleman might have been experiencing similar feelings after dramatically improved mare In Style just topped off the hot favourite Ryan Mark in the $70,000 Concord.
Coleman won the big sprint at Avondale on In Style two weeks ago, but this time, which was no surprise to anyone, he elected to ride Ryan Mark.
Replacement Michelle Wenn rode In Style a treat to outlast Ryan Mark in a close finish.
Matamata trainer Danica Guy has got In Style in the exact right zone for the approaching big sprints at Ellerslie and Trentham. Ryan Mark loomed to run straight past In Style at the 250m, but as hard as the favourite tried, In Style refused to yield and was holding Ryan Mark on the line, even though the margin was narrow.
Rider Reese Jones was not disappointed with the effort for third of Mosse, who had settled back along the rails from his inside barrier.
"He had a long time away from racing - nearly two years - and he still hasn't had much racing. He feels like he'll keep improving.
"There was a narrow gap along the rails and he took it well and was strong on the line. The first two had broken away by the time he got out."
Kawi lost few friends by being beaten. He got to the front quite quickly in the home straight and Mighty Soloman, who also has a big future, had the last lunge at him.
There are a host of talented emerging 3-year-olds around. Kolonel Kev, a Lisa Latta stablemate of Mighty Soloman, looked stylish winning the 1400m 3-year-old at Trentham.
"I've always had a very big opinion of him," said Latta.
