KEY POINTS:
Ististar has opened a $1.90 favourite for the $80,000 Galaxy Stakes at Trentham tomorrow and TAB head bookmaker Paul Lally believes she thoroughly deserves her odds-on rating.
"It's not a particularly strong field and she beat a much stronger one last time," Lally said last night. That was in the listed Bay of Plenty Stakes when the 5-year-old Istidaad mare comfortably beat Twinkling and Culminate on a slow track.
And Lally pointed to the fact she is easily the highest prizemoney earner in the nine-horse field - $191,000 in the bank and $100,000 more than Platinum Elle, the next best.
Under the set conditions of the race, the seven-race winner only has to carry 56kg. That places her extremely favourably against some three-race winners on 55kg.
"All the conditions seem to be in her favour now," Lally said.
The track was yesterday rated 4.2, on the heavy side of slow, with the possibility of weekend rain as a cold front threatens.
That will suit Ististar, who is at her best on slow to heavy tracks.
"There is not much to her, but she's all heart," said rider Michelle Wenn. "She gets through the soft to heavy tracks and I can't see it drying out much even if it doesn't rain."
In the other feature, the $60,000 Trentham Stakes, Scrutineer and Castlebar were joint $5 pre-post favourites last night.
- NZPA
