By Jonny Turner
Steven Reid will get the answers he is looking for when he starts his first horse in Southland on Diamonds Day on Sunday.
The former North Island horseman will venture further south than he has before to start the red-hot favourite Jumal in the Group 1 Diamond Creek Farm Classic at Ascot Park.
Reid has had a good rap on his two-year-old, but his many years in the sport have told him that it is one thing for a horse to show promise and another for them to do it in big races.
“He is a pretty nice horse and I am confident he can do it.”
“There are a few little things, like the trip down and not having raced on a smaller track before.”
“If he is a good horse he should be able to take things like that in his stride and I guess on Sunday we are going to find out if he is a good horse.”
While Reid has plenty of faith in Jumal, he might not be the horse’s number one fan going by what driver Samantha Ottley has been telling the trainer.
“I said to Sam before his first trial that I thought this horse goes pretty good.”
“I am not sure what she was thinking at the time, but definitely now she is the one telling me she thinks he goes pretty good.”
While Jumal’s ability doesn’t need to be questioned following his excellent wins in his two career starts, whether the two-year-old can handle a trip to Invercargill at such a young age is yet to be proven.
But Reid saw enough hints in his pacer’s last trip to Addington to suggest he can handle it.
“The second time he went to Addington I didn’t take a mate with him and he was a bit on the jig and pawing the ground.”
“But Sam said as soon as he got on the track he was like a lamb.”
“You don’t know how they are going to handle the whole experience until they actually do it, but I am pretty hopeful he will take everything in his stride.”
The Group 1 Diamond Creek Farm Classic could develop into a tactical affair with just seven starters.
Reid isn’t too fazed about what tactical approach to take into the race, leaving all of those calculations with Ottley.
“I have never told her how to drive and I am not going to start on Sunday.”
“The only thing I would look at is that its 2200m, so he will have a little bit more time to work into it.”
“I think he would have the gate speed to get out pretty well too, but it will be up to Sam whether she wants to use it.”
Reid has also brought Rakero Lightning south for Diamonds Day, with the mare looking a genuine winning hope in race 1.
