Racing: Reid hopes for best hand

Gold Ace may need a few tricks up his sleeve to beat Adore Me tomorrow evening. Photo / Greg Bowker

When your future is on the line a rampant Adore Me is hardly the ideal rival, but that doesn't stop Steven Reid going into tomorrow night's Flying Mile at Cambridge with a degree of confidence.

Reid's millionaire pacer Gold Ace takes on the champion mare in the $60,000 Cambridge sprint, with the result likely to determine whether he shoots for the stars or stays home and consolidates.

If Gold Ace can win tomorrow the dual A$400,000 targets of the Victoria and Hunter Cups at the end of this month come into play, with a final shot at establishing himself as a future stallion prospect in Australia.

But if Adore Me can sit parked outside him, which looks the likely pattern of the race, and beat Gold Ace then Reid will have to change plans.

With that in mind the barrier draw was crucial, Gold Ace securing barrier two and Adore Me to start from four.

"All I wanted was to draw inside the mare and have a chance," said Reid.

"We have got that now and I think everybody knows we will be trying for an all-the-way win.

"If Adore Me can sit outside us and beat us then so be it."

Just two months ago that would have seemed certain after Gold Ace was beaten in in his comeback to New Zealand racing in the free-for-all on New Zealand Cup Day, while Adore Me produced one of the great Cup wins of all time hours later.

While the mare has gone on with the job since, winning twice at Alexandra Park, so, too, has Gold Ace.

"I actually think he is back to something like his best," says Reid.

"He has really seemed to come on in the last few weeks and you know that when he starts bucking. When he was at his best as a 3-year-old he used to buck in the prelims and sometimes even in a race.

"And he has been doing it this week. I worked him on Wednesday and he bucked like seven or eight times in the warm-up.

"So he is feeling good. Whether that is good enough to beat the mare we will see."

Because of the deeds of Christen Me, Adore Me and Terror To Love, it is easy to forget how good Gold Ace has been and even last season he produced some huge wins and a brave Hunter Cup third.

"If he wins this week we could be heading back to Australia because this is his last campaign and if he could win a big one it would help his stallion career," says Reid. "So this week is crucial."

The TAB opened Adore Me a $1.40 favourite to win tomorrow night, with Gold Ace at $3.40 to repeat his Flying Mile victory of two seasons ago.

Meanwhile, Miracle Mile winner Christen Me looked sharp when returning to the public domain at the Ashburton trials yesterday.

Having his first outing since his Cranbourne Cup second last month, he sprinted quickly between the 300m-100m of his trial before being allowed to ease down to third behind Didjamakembolt and Border Control.

The trio strode over their last 800m in 56.1, with Christen Me likely to head to Victoria next week, possibly resuming in the Shepparton Cup on January 24.