KEY POINTS:
Bank on class rather than raw speed getting 1000 Guineas-bound filly Rathsallagh out of maiden ranks at Te Aroha today.
Pukekohe co-trainer Russell Cameron says the 1200m of the opening event is at least 400m short of where the Bonecrusher Stakes runner-up will eventually star. But at this
stage of her preparation he believes it's the perfect stepping stone to have the O'Reilly filly peaking for Riccarton on November 10.
"This is a better way to work up to 1600m and we'll go from there," said Cameron. "If she goes good enough we'll find another one for her before Riccarton."
Cameron says that's likely to be the group two Wellington Guineas (1500m) at Trentham on October 27.
A winless record has never been a barrier to tackling group races in Cameron's book. Last spring he took a little-known maiden filly by the name of J'Adane to Australia on a black-type campaign that included a second placing in the group two Wakeful Stakes behind Tuesday Joy.
The subsequent Kelt Capital Stakes runner-up only quit maidens in a lowly Eagle Farm race in May this year.
Cameron says J'Adane had more brilliance than Rathsallagh at the same stage of their careers. But he's aiming just as high with the "big, relaxed" filly who, he says, is "getting better all the time".
While Rathsallagh gave Rios fans a nasty fright in the Bonecrusher, Cameron wasn't the least bit surprised at how close his filly pushed the better performed favourite at Ellerslie.
"I expected a run like that for sure," said Cameron, who felt the Bonecrusher was a slightly easier option than the Soliloquy Stakes on the same card. "The winner won well, but we were taking ground off him again at the finish."
The big-striding Rathsallagh's chances weren't helped either by a muddling early pace and a sprint home in the listed 1400m feature.
Cameron is hoping sheer class can overcome the distance query over 1200m today but says punters should tread warily all the same. A wet track, however, is not a concern for the trainer. Cameron says Rathsallagh performs "okay" in soft ground.
She ran second to Agavero on a heavy Avondale on debut in June.
Stablemate Outrage rates close to an anchor for the stable in the $200,000 Pick Six chase. The Zerpour filly copped a horror trip last time out when beaten favourite in a maiden 1600m at New Plymouth on September 29.
One minute rider Bruce Herd had her travelling sweetly on the fence in third, the next she was shuffled back to near last with no room to improve. Just three starts back she was beaten a nose by Danskar on a heavy Te Aroha in August.
* J'Adane has pulled up from her brave second to Princess Coup in the Kelt Capital Stakes with bone chips in both front knees.
A disappointed co-trainer Russell Cameron says he'll know more about her racing future after an operation at the end of the month but the early prognosis is good.
Cameron believes the injury explains why J'Adane didn't unleash her signature sprint at Hastings.