KEY POINTS:
BRISBANE: For a person with a conservative nature, trainer Ken Rae is talking up the chances of Kiwi mare Mirkola Lass in the group three Premier's Cup at Doomben today.
Rae, who bought Mirkola Lass for a paltry $800 at a New Zealand dispersal sale, is amazed at how the 4-year-old has blossomed in the Queensland climate and is confident she can turn the tables on compatriot Mandela.
Mandela won the group three Chairman's Hcp (2020m) at Doomben last start leaving Mirkola Lass in his wake, almost three lengths away.
However, a brilliant track gallop at Doomben on Tuesday and a weight turnaround favouring Mirkola Lass has boosted Rae's confidence for the Premier's Cup (2200m).
"We meet Mandela two kilos better but my mare's work on the course proper was amazing," Rae said.
"I think she'll run a boomer of a race and I generally like to be cautious."
"I firmly believe Mirkola Lass is on par with Mandela at equal weights so to get [four] kilos off him is a big plus.
"My mare ran against Mandela in the Avondale Cup back home and they finished alongside each other. He ran fourth and we ran fifth."
Rae, who also bred former top mare Our Egyptian Raine for $350 and sold her for around $1 million, will send Mirkola Lass into the group two Brisbane Cup (2400m) at Eagle Farm on June 11 after the Premier's Cup.
"She's got a great pedigree and she's bred to run 10 miles," Rae said.
"If she happened to win the Brisbane Cup I might nominate her for the Melbourne Cup.
"But I wouldn't run her in the Melbourne Cup just for the sake of having a runner in the race.
"I'd rather have a runner with a chance in the New Zealand Cup than have a plodder go around in the Melbourne Cup just so I could say I had a runner."
Rae has booked Kiwi jockey Leith Innes to ride Mirkola Lass, replacing Michael Cahill who was aboard for the Chairman's Hcp.
"I was supposed to ride her last start but she only had 53 kilos and I couldn't make her weight," Innes said.
Innes is still looking for his first feature victory in Queensland, despite winning at the elite level in his homeland.
His best feature effort in Brisbane was on the Bruce Marsh-trained King Of Them All, who finished third in the 2003 Queensland Derby won by Half Hennessy.
Innes' group one wins in New Zealand came aboard Wahid in last year's New Zealand Derby and Australian superstar Starcraft in the 2004 Mudgway Stakes but his only Queensland win was in an Ipswich maiden in 2003.
"I've only ridden half a dozen winners in Australia and my only Queensland winner was on Rugger for Robbie Heathcote four years ago."
Innes has a wealth of international experience having ridden in Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore and plans to return overseas next season.
"I'd like to go back to Japan next year. I've had a two-and-a-half month stint there and rode four winners including a Group Two on Toseno Shanna."
- AAP
