Racing: Quick return for Taranaki drive

Cambridge trainer-driver Todd Mitchell will be returning from Sydney to drive Pocket Maestro in the $7500 Taranaki Cup (3200m) at New Plymouth tomorrow.

Mitchell was to drive the Steven Reid-trained Baileys Dream in the A$100,000 New South Wales Derby at Harold Park last night.

Pocket Maestro will be a fresh runner on the second of the two-day Taranaki Trotting Club's meeting.

Mitchell stable spokesman Tom Thomson, who was the original trainer of Pocket Maestro, said the horse had been working well.

"Todd has had his eye on the Taranaki Cup for the horse for sometime now," Thomson said.

Pocket Maestro has looked more than useful with four wins from 21 starts.

Thomson qualified the horse and trained him for his first win before handing him over to Mitchell.

"He's always shown us a bit, but has had more than his share of leg problems, but he seems okay at the moment. His work this week has been very good."

Pocket Maestro has yet to race beyond 2700m but Thomson had no fears the horse would manage the 3200m of the Taranaki Cup.

"That won't worry him one bit. He's the sort of horse that will sit off them and get home fast."

The toughest for Pocket Maestro to beat could be the Cambridge-trained Miss Abigail who was very unlucky when fifth in the cup prelude over 2200m on the first day of the meeting on Thursday.

Miss Abigail was denied a run in the home straight and finished full of running.

Cup prelude winner Ted E Bear deserves respect on his first day showing alone while The Travelling Man and last start Alexandra Park winner Cracka Kari - fresh runners to the meeting - are expected to perform well.

The eye-catching run in the NRM Prelude Pace (2200m) was the luckless run of short-priced favourite Miss Abigail.

She was fifth with her driver Peter Ferguson unable to find any racing room in the home straight due to a wall of horses in front of him.

Starting a hot $2.50 win favourite after some useful lead-up form, Miss Abigail was locked up four back on the fence in the running of the 2200m race.

Ferguson said there was just no way through.

"She was full of running at the line, but just didn't get any luck," he said.

Ted E Bear received a dream run handy to the pace after making a good beginning from the standing start and sprinted best in the straight to score by just over a length.

- NZPA