Mares ready to rumble at Addington tonight

By Mike Love

The country's finest mares race in the $60,000 Group 2 Garrards' Premier Mares’ Championship at Addington tonight.

One of the leading chances is northerner Lady Of The Light ($4.50FF) who will need to overcome a tricky draw to play a role. Pukekohe trainer Jeremy Young is happy with his Bettor’s Delight five-year-old since arriving in the garden city.

“We gave her a bit of a freshen-up after the Queen Of Hearts. She seems quite well.

“We’re staying at Steve McRae’s. We’ve been down for nine days so far.”

Young is under no illusion that tonight’s draw of 13 will dictate his mare's race, especially over the sprint trip of 1980m.

“We have a bit of a tricky draw, so we’ll have to see what happens from there.”

In the 2023 version of the Premier Mares, Lady Of The Light copped a similar draw as she has tonight and never got a crack at them, finishing 12th behind the Jonny Cox trained Folklore.

“There’s not much we can do from there. We’re in the lap of the Gods. We will be on the back foot a bit. I’m not saying we don’t have a chance with some luck, but it will be pretty hard.”

Lady Of The Light comes in tonight off the back of her previous Group 1 Queen Of Hearts victory at Alexandra Park on December 15th, and a quiet Pukekohe workout on January 12th. She will be driven by Maurice McKendry.

Lady Of The Light will remain in Christchurch before the Group 1 Standardbred Breeders Stakes on February 9th.

“We finished second in that race last year. It’s been the main aim of bringing her down, so hopefully we can go one better.”

Other chances in tonight's event include the Steve and Amanda Telfer runners Allamericanlover ($7.00FF) and Kahlua Flybye ($10.00FF), the Bob Butt pair Manhattan ($3.00FF) and Kikorangi Blue ($14.00FF), as well as the Tony Barron-trained Lifes A Beach ($10.00FF), among others.

The race is due to go at 8.15pm.