KEY POINTS:
Neville Couchman needs two, not one, luck phases to improve to get Gee I Jane home in the country's top sprint, today's $200,000 Railway at Ellerslie.
Gee I Jane's luck this season has been completely downhill.
Couchman took the mare to Melbourne for what he felt would guarantee her an invitation to the rich Hong Kong International meeting.
Gee I Jane drew barrier No 1 over the Melbourne Cup carnival, a 1200m disaster for some horses down the straight Flemington course and it cost the Cambridge mare any chance in that race and subsequently a spot to race in Hong Kong.
As disastrous as that proved for Couchman and his owners, it's something further back in life that the trainer is looking to turn around - Gee I Jane's luck in two previous Railway attempts.
"She probably should have won both of them," said Couchman yesterday.
Two years ago she was turned sideways early in the home straight in a dramatic incident just as she was about to launch her excellent finishing sprint.
Last year she was held up along the inside before flashing home for a close second to Baldessarini.
Couchman is completely unconcerned that Gee I Jane missed the money in the Concorde at Avondale in her only start since returning from Australia.
"She was a bit too fresh and when she got posted wide from her draw she raced too keenly," said Couchman.
"She was still in the race with 60m to run, but got swamped.
"Her work since then has been terrific."
Carrying 58kg clear topweight in a group one race is difficult for a mare, particularly as she has to concede at least 5.5kg to all but two of the runners, Clifton Prince and Ticklish.
But Couchman knew at midday on Saturday his luck with the high class mare had changed at least in part - the No 2 barrier draw is almost certainly going to be an enormous help.
"She's certainly better placed there than she was at Avondale."
No one can remember a Railway that has not been won by luck, either with barrier draws or the right passage in running.
Kay's Awake scored an astonishing win in the lead-up to Newmarket here on Boxing Day, swamping the field from last when she was deliberately dropped out to the tail to offset a wide gate.
She has drawn No 12 - she will start from No9 if the field stays intact - and may have to go back again to avoid being caught wide.
Her chance will depend on the run David Walsh can secure for her between the 500m and 250m.
Then you have the 3-year-old fillies Imananabaa and Solvini.
It isn't so much that you have to go back 26 and 33 years to the last two 3-year-olds to win the Railway, it's the class of those two horses that managed it - Gold Hope and Blue Blood. Both were outstanding types for trainer Ray Verner.
The weights they carried are interesting. Gold Hope, a filly, had 49kg, which would have been 2kg above the minimum weight and Blue Blood 50kg.
Weight-for-age for 3-year-old fillies in those days was 51.5kg, which means Gold Hope had 2.5kg less than weight-for-age and Blue Blood roughly the same because he was a male.
The 3-year-old rating was recently lifted to 52.5kg, which means Imananabaa will go out with 1.5kg less than the international scale and Solvini 1kg.
If there are no scratchings the pair look ideally placed at the start, coming out of adjacent gates in No4 (Solvini) and No5.
High class sprint races where the pace is right on from the start are ideal for Imananabaa because she can do a few things wrong and the tempo of those races keeps her mind where it should be.
It was no Railway field she faced at Ellerslie two weeks ago, but she was impressive in the way she worked away from the opposition.
Stephen McKee has a perfect guide to the chances of Solvini - three years ago the stable produced 3-year-old filly Pay My Bail to be beaten a lip in the Railway by Vinaka.
Winning Railways is not just all about sheer speed, horses have to be tough and brave and the McKees knew Pay My Bail had those qualities after she beat Miss Potential at weight-for-age over 1400m at Pukekohe in her lead-up. "We're guessing a bit with this filly, but we think she has the same qualities."
Solvini certainly showed that when she lumped 58kg - an enormous weight for a little filly - and was tackled hard before winning at Te Rapa last start. From her inside gate Solvini is the likely pacemaker.
* Railway Handicap, $200,000, opn hcp, group one, 1200m: $3.50 Gee I Jane; $5 Imananabaa; $7 Kay's Awake; $9 Clifton Prince; $12 Solvini, Fiorenza, Inshelucky; $14 Belthazar; $16 Sent To Sea; $18 St Verdi, Tatlock; $21 Ticklish, Penitentiary; $26 Mi Jubilee; $35 Magistra Delecta, Donna Rosita; $81 Falrain.
