Racing: Lammas looking for treble

Cameron Lammas wants his luck to hold just a little bit longer.

In fact, another 36 hours will do him just fine.

Lammas provided Lance O'Sullivan with his first training success late last year and then handed him his first group-one victory when Calveen completely dominated the $150,000 Speights Easter Handicap at Ellerslie.

The Matamata apprentice really wants to make that a treble by giving O'Sullivan his first group two with Calveen in tomorrow's $100,000 Westernbay Finance Japan/New Zealand Trophy at Tauranga.

And he should go close. O'Sullivan had not been happy with Calveen's lead-up racing to the Easter, but felt the mare turned the corner before the Ellerslie feature and we saw the result.

Even in the same form the classy mare would prove hard to handle tomorrow, but O'Sullivan feels there is a little more improvement since last racing.

Calveen can produce an electrifying sprint when at her best and the acceleration she displayed in the Easter won her the race.

She is starting to creep up in the weights - 55.5kg is not an easy weight for a mare at the top level - but she has the class to match.

Lammas ends his highly successful apprenticeship in six weeks and is running out of opportunities to bag group-rated races as the season heads through autumn. This one will mean as much as the Easter.

O'Sullivan attributed part of the Ellerslie success to the fact that rain had taken the fire out of the late-summer tracks, and has no fears about the surface being easy again.

One who has is Heather Weller, trainer of last year's winner, Silky Red Boxer.

"Oh, it's not allowed to be," she said yesterday when told the Tauranga track was still 3.8 and soft.

Silky Red Boxer has twice won on easy tracks and once in soft conditions, but that was when he was coming through the grades and vastly superior to the opposition. In this class he prefers firm footing.

He will start tomorrow regardless of conditions.

"He's got to start because we're running out of opportunities on good ground with him," said Weller.

Silky Red Boxer was superb in the Easter, settling back, being checked 300m out then running on to finish an excellent fourth.

"He lost a couple of very small pieces of skin in the home-straight incident in the Easter, but he's fine and he looks particularly bright."

Noel Harris rode Silky Red Boxer to victory in this race last year and retains the ride.

The remarkable Kristov, 57kg and all, commands respect. He has only been out of the money four times in 33 starts and is racing better than at any stage of his career.

The devastating home-straight sprint Calveen turned on in the Easter gave Kristov no chance to fight her off and his second was a great effort.

His wide barrier draw is a slight problem - the good draws of late have helped him take up the running, as he prefers, and he might have to work a little early under his 57kg to lead again. For that reason the better the track, the better his chances, even though he has performed on all surfaces.

Penitentiary's No 18 barrier draw did not aid his chances in the Easter at Ellerslie. He finished 10th, but it was a lot better effort than it looks on paper.

He won his previous two in great style and can bounce back here.

Japan / NZ Trophy

* Cameron Lammas and Lance O'Sullivan make a great pair.

* They can combine with Calveen to add the group-two Tauranga feature to the trophy cabinet.

* The rain-affected track is not good news for the connections of Silky Red Boxer.