Racing: Reid picks his stars to shine

In horse racing there is one surefire way to bounce back from losing your best horse - find another good horse.

Steven Reid thinks he has done better than that - he has found two or three.

Reid has had to watch all season as Monkey King, the horse he bought at the sales, educated and won so many big races with, has dominated the New Zealand harness racing scene for new trainer Brendon Hill.

And while it can't have been much fun watching your former stable star win nearly $1.8 million in the past five months, Reid has kept his thoughts to himself and kept looking for his next good horse.

He thinks both Charge Forward and Chocolate Brownie could fit the bill, although obviously they are not in Monkey King's class.

The pair take on their southern age-group opponents at Addington tonight: Charge Forward in the $40,000 Sales Series Graduate and Chocolate Brownie up against unbeaten filly Shezoneoftheboyz in one of two 3-year-old trots.

Reid can hardly hide his excitement about the potential of Charge Forward, who won a Sires' Stakes heat on debut at Forbury Park last Thursday.

"Before last week he had only had two trials and the fastest he had paced was 2:03 for a mile," said Reid.

"Then he comes out and goes a 1:56 mile rate on debut, so as you can imagine I think he is pretty good.

"Sure, he had the trip to win last week but we have always known he was a nice horse."

Reid has pulled a masterstroke by sending Charge Forward and stablemate/race-rival Gold Ace south, meaning they can compete in weaker fields for big money as the best southern 2-year-olds have been campaigning in the north.

"Initially, I did it to get away from horses like Major Mark but long-term these horses might be up to them because I rate them both highly."

Reid also has a high opinion of Chocolate Brownie, who won a weakish Sales Series Trot for big money at Addington last start.

Tonight, he meets Shezoneoftheboyz, who captured the first decent 3-year-old trot of the season, the Hambletonian, last start.

"I haven't seen enough of Shezoneoftheboyz to know how good she is but I really think my horse has taken a step up," said Reid.

"I am thinking he [Chocolate Brownie] will be very competitive in the Trotting Derbys, so he will be hard to beat on Friday."

While the two 3-year-old trots tonight are worth just $7000 each they will capture plenty of interest as the crop, which looks set to be dominated by warhorse The Fiery Ginga, starts to look far more even.

The Fiery Ginga's incredibly tough summer campaign will not be helping his chances of staying at the head of the pack but he has been lucky enough to draw the weaker of the two trots tonight, although he still has to get past the promising Vulcan.

While Reid's main focus tonight will be on the Addington meeting he will make time to assess talented filly Flying Pocketlands at Alexandra Park.

One of the best juvenile fillies in the country last season she has struggled to find that form this term and Reid is unsure what to expect in race six.

"We know how good she is but she hasn't been racing up to her best."

After an amazing month of racing, Alexandra Park produces more sedate fare tonight as the Thames Trotting Club celebrate their 90th jubilee.

The feature is the $15,000 Thames Trotting Cup, in which Isa Good Looking, despite a 40m handicap, looks the best each-way chance after a smart third behind Sno's Big Boy in a stronger field last Friday.

LOOKING FORWARD
* Steven Reid believes he has two potential age group stars in Charge Forward and Chocolate Brownie.
* They both compete at Addington tonight.
* Both are impressive last-start winners in the south.
* The Thames Trotting Club celebrate their 90th Jubilee at Alexandra Park tonight.