Racing: Showers help sun to shine

Sing In The Sun and Lisa Cropp bolted in at Ellerslie yesterday. Picture/ Kenny Rodger

Cambridge owner-trainer Tony Devcich isn't used to giving riding instructions.

As one of New Zealand's highest ranked international polo players, his preferred view is from behind a horse's ears.

He still grapples with having to sit back and watch while others take the reins on his racehorses.

That explains his relief when another of Cambridge's accomplished international equestrians, Lisa Cropp, followed Devcich's instructions to the letter for a long-awaited return to form by Sing In The Sun.

In the New Zealand Herald 2100 at Ellerslie yesterday, the Desert Sun mare scored her first win for 15 months.

She came with a last-to-first burst to easily down two others from Cambridge, Viz Vitae and Showgirl.

"I've asked other jockeys to ride her cold and it's good to finally prove that that's how she likes it," said Devcich.

Riding tactics are not the sole reason for Sing In The Sun's absence from the winner's stall.

"She's had a lot of trouble with her feet and that led to shoulder and other problems," Devcich explained.

He was one of the few to welcome the sudden downpour that drenched the course early in yesterday's programme, downgrading the track from dead to slow and resulting in more than 40 late scratchings.

Given the change in track conditions, trainers Murray Baker and Brian Jenkins were sufficiently satisfied with the minor placings by Viz Vitae and Showgirl to stand their ground in Sunday's City Of Auckland Cup.