Racing: Top driver closes in on 300 winners

Tony Herlihy's own stable junior driver could deny him reaching the 3000 New Zealand wins' mark at Alexandra Park tonight.

Herlihy is set to become the first New Zealand horseperson of either code to win 3000 races in this country, going into last night's Cambridge meeting with 2996 career wins here.

He has two big winning chances tonight in Statesman (race three) and Stiletto Point (race eight), but his best chance comes as a trainer in race four.

Herlihy will line up Swift Therapy in a disappointingly weak junior driver's race and he looks a certainty, with stable reinsman Josh Dickie set to reap the rewards.

"He will be very hard to beat, especially with it only being a five-horse field," said Herlihy. "And he has the gate speed to go forward."

A win there would cement Dickie as the North Island representative in the Interdominion junior driver's champs next month.

Herlihy's best chance of closing in on the 3000 is Statesmen in race three.

He was checked out of the race last start but at his previous outing finished fourth to Gold Ace in the $260,000 Sales Series Pace.

"He has barrier one and I think he can lead so he will be very hard to beat. "I'm going to nominate him for the Derby and he will want to win this to deserve that."

Stiletto Point rocked punters when he lead throughout two weeks ago but will be at far shorter odds tonight.

"He is a smart horse in this grade when he can roll along in front and if he does that he won't need to go much quicker than last start," said Herlihy.