Racing: Smart youngster's run may be a bit too late

Colin Jillings and Richard Yuill will have to wait until final acceptance time to learn if Abbey Drive has clinched a start in the $500,000 two-year-old event at Te Rapa on February 5.

The Takanini trainers produced the exciting two-year-old son of Zabeel to score a stylish debut victory at Avondale yesterday.

Abbey Drive has been troubled by shin soreness since an October trial win and is late trying to qualify for the $500,000 New Zealand Bloodstock 2-Year-Old Classique.

The selection criteria are based on stake money won and Abbey Drive has only secured $6250-courtesy of the debut victory.

"Really all Colin and I can do now is to sit back and hope we've done enough with the win here today to get him into the $500,000 race at Te Rapa on February 5," said co-trainer Richard Yuill.

"He's a very, very smart two-year-old and he gives us the impression he's only going to get better with more maturity and racing experience.

"The shin soreness is just one of those things that can happen with young racehorses and because of that we had to put him aside and just let him recover.

"It's meant we've missed a few racing opportunities but it's something we can't control. I hope we can get him into the field at Te Rapa because I think he's smart enough to really test that field.

"If we miss out we'll just reassess things and focus on the Sires Produce Stakes at Ellerslie.

"His older sister [El Bulli] is racing in the New Zealand Oaks at Trentham and has won two from nine starts including a win over 2000 metres.

"I think this horse, with another 12 months of maturity on his side, will develop into a very good horse.

"He was a little lost out there racing today and he didn't know what to do when Lee [Rutherford, jockey] hit him with the whip but he really knuckled down to it in the final 100 metres and drew clear."

Abbey Drive jumped quickly from a wide alley to sit outside the leader and lengthened stride effortlessly over the closing 100 metres to win by 1 3/4 lengths over Sandspirit with a further three lengths back to Matamatamamma.

The ultimate irony would be if Abbey Drive did not make the $500,000 event. He is part-owned by Peter and Philip Vela, principal owners of New Zealand Bloodstock, sponsors of the Te Rapa race.