Racing: Wait until the last race for Gallant

If there is justice - and often there is not on a racecourse - Gallant should be a good thing in the last race at Matamata today.

He was last start at Te Rapa - until he got carted off on the home bend and forced over a stack of extra ground to end up being beaten a short neck by New Plymouth visitor Juice.

Gallant (No1, R10) needs only to produce a similar run this time to take the money, despite the considerable strength of the field.

The 58kg is a bit of an ask, but the local galloper is a tough type who should manage.

Dawn Ghost (No 4) is one of the two strong chances local trainer John Sargent has. She is coming off carrying just 51.75kg in a strong race won by Heracles and drops a rating band.

The downside is she will carry her full 56kg, but looks a mare on the way through to the best classes and should be difficult to contain, provided she gets a reasonable passage from her wide draw.

The in-form Sargent will also be represented by So Royal (No2) to be ridden by the equally in-form Mark Du Plessis. She has a good record at 2000m and is a trifecta hope.

Fashion Rocks (No6, R2) should be a nice bet. She had to make a sustained run to get close to Star Of Kings at Ellerslie last start after the other horse had the run of the race.

She finds the line well and the compact nature of this field lends itself to her cause. Calavera (No8) is the value.

The Pike/Donoghue stable knows how to get horses fit coming off a break, so don't be concerned Aspinal (No4, R3) is coming off a three-month break.

She is an underrated filly, has drawn nicely at the 1200m and should get the run of the race. She was only four lengths off Katie Lee in the 2000 Guineas at Riccarton last start - great form for a race like this.

Country Dane (No9, R4) went awful last start at Avondale, but she's better than that and is worth at least one more chance today. Two starts back she was beaten just a short neck at Ellerslie and should have won the race.

Utopia (No10) has had only the three starts, but looks very promising. She didn't get the best of runs when matched against Katie Lee last start.

Everlasting (No1, R5) is a smart horse. What's counted against him in three starts since his dashing winning debut is that he's not ideally a 1200m type.

You don't have much distance choice as a juvenile and a solid pace here would set it up for him from the No 1 barrier.

He was only 2.2 lengths from Sister Havana in the Karaka Million last start and that's good enough form for this.

The 57.5kg is not an ideal weight for a filly against older horses, but St Germaine (No2, R6) is classy. She got going late over 1200m at Te Rapa last start and will be suited by the step up to 1400m. Torpedo (No3) was huge in winning last week.

If you're worried about backing Sister Havana (No1, R7) in the Matamata Breeders Stakes, play the DVD of the Karaka Million performance.

It was stunning. The Queensland filly sat off them, picked them up quickly and simply left them behind. Why would you suspect she couldn't so the same again?

The concern is that Pukekohe trainer Gary Newham, who has been looking after the filly for Queensland trainer Liam Birchley, declared after he rode her trackwork on Thursday that a shower of rain wouldn't go astray. That should not be enough to beat her.

Irish Jewel (No3) did well for fifth in just her second race start to be just 2.25 lengths from Sister Havana at Ellerslie. She will have gained further experience from that and could well prove troublesome.

This should be Tell A Tale's (No2, R9) day. Yes, Veloce Bella (No1) beat Tell A Tale at Te Rapa last start, but the 2.5kg weight turnaround should contribute significantly towards the result being turned around. Tell A Take is on the verge of his very best form.

* Interesting that the New South Wales races being bet on yesterday by the New Zealand TAB were from Quirindi.

Question: who is the most famous jockey to ever ride at Quirindi?

The prize is the same one you get for finding Quirindi - and that also serves as an apology to all Quirindians, all 20 of you. A tip to the answer to the jockey question is that he was tall, a "to and from" and at one point spent some time at Her Majesty's pleasure.

Okay, you haven't got it, well, his initials were Lester Piggott.

Yes, he did ride at Quirindi and, no, he didn't find his own way there.

Nor, believe it or not, did he ride a winner.

Or a placing.

In five or six rides, about 11 years ago, the best he finished was fourth in the Quirindi Cup.

And, no, he doesn't have a photo of that on his wall at home.