Racing: Stephen Autridge eyes career milestone in Sunline McKee Vase at Ellerslie

Livid Sky is the favourite for both tomorrow and the Oaks. Photo / Supplied

A race named after some legends of New Zealand racing could shape the rest of Stephen Autridge’s season at Ellerslie tomorrow.

It may also tell him whether he has any shot at achieving a career-long goal over the next month.

Autridge takes two high-class fillies in Livid Sky and Still Bangon to the Sunline McKee Vase, the race named after the champion race mare who is buried in the rose gardens at Ellerslie, and the iconic racing family who trained her, headed by the late Trevor McKee.

The Vase takes on added importance as not only is it a $150,000 with valuable Group 3 black type but after the Lowland Stakes was abandoned and rescheduled on Wednesday, tomorrow’s Vase could become the most suitable trial for the NZ Oaks on March 16.

Livid Sky is favourite for both tomorrow and the Oaks and Autridge says she can win both.

“She is the sort of filly you want to train,” he told the Herald.

“She loves racing, she gives it her all and she isn’t showing any signs of getting tired.

“I think she can win this and then she might be even better in the Oaks.”

Autridge isn’t as certain about Still Bangon because she has bred for speed on her dam’s side and she failed in the Ellis Classic last start.

“Saturday is D-Day for her,” he admits.

“I think she can go well here and earn herself a trip to the Oaks but she has to prove that to me.”

If either filly can win tomorrow and then one of them double down in the Oaks, Autridge would reach the 100 black type wins that has been his target in recent years.

“I’d love to get there but I think I might need to win this one to have a chance of winning the Oaks, so my chances of getting the 100 any time soon might depend on tomorrow.”

Either way, Autridge will start a new chapter in his career tomorrow.

“These will be the first starters I have had on the new Ellerslie track, in fact, the first time I have been there.”

Michael Guerin wrote his first nationally published racing articles while still in school and started writing about horse racing and the gambling industry for the Herald as a 20-year-old in 1990. He became the Herald’s Racing Editor in 1995 and covers the world’s biggest horse racing carnivals.