Red Dirt Girl
Race Images South
She may be a difficult customer off the track but that fierce determination to do things her way saw speedy mare Red Dirt Girl salute the judge once again at Riccarton on the weekend.
Successful in her first two starts for northern trainer Kristine Stead the now six year-old mare was transferred to the southern base of Riccarton based Mike McCann after failing to add to those initial victories in her remaining six starts in the north. Since joining McCann the mare has taken on a new lease of life which has seen her register a further seven wins and five placings from just twenty appearances from the stable.
While delighted with the mare's progress McCann is happy taking it one day at a time with his charge.
"She can be a real handful at the best of times and she certainly wants to show you who the boss is," he chuckled when questioned about her.
"It can take up to half an hour to get her on to the track in the morning as she just stops and stands every few metres. She always wants to do things her way and at her pace so I guess I would describe her as difficult if I was being polite.
"However, when she does get down to business she is a pretty determined character with a fair bit of ability."
Although pleased with Saturday's effort McCann was more enthusiastic about the racing manners displayed by the mare as he looks to the future with her.
"The biggest problem we have faced is the way she used to over-race all the time," he said.
"We have spent months and months trying to get her to settle in her races and in her last few starts it looks like she may have finally clicked. She was far more relaxed on Saturday and finished the race off strongly which is good to see if we want to step her up further in the future.
"I have tried to space her races as the only time I backed her up quickly she went terribly. I haven't thought too much about where we will go next but there is a nice race at Wingatui on the 5th of March so that might be the option for her." – NZ Racing Desk
Successful in her first two starts for northern trainer Kristine Stead the now six year-old mare was transferred to the southern base of Riccarton based Mike McCann after failing to add to those initial victories in her remaining six starts in the north. Since joining McCann the mare has taken on a new lease of life which has seen her register a further seven wins and five placings from just twenty appearances from the stable.
While delighted with the mare's progress McCann is happy taking it one day at a time with his charge.
"She can be a real handful at the best of times and she certainly wants to show you who the boss is," he chuckled when questioned about her.
"It can take up to half an hour to get her on to the track in the morning as she just stops and stands every few metres. She always wants to do things her way and at her pace so I guess I would describe her as difficult if I was being polite.
"However, when she does get down to business she is a pretty determined character with a fair bit of ability."
Although pleased with Saturday's effort McCann was more enthusiastic about the racing manners displayed by the mare as he looks to the future with her.
"The biggest problem we have faced is the way she used to over-race all the time," he said.
"We have spent months and months trying to get her to settle in her races and in her last few starts it looks like she may have finally clicked. She was far more relaxed on Saturday and finished the race off strongly which is good to see if we want to step her up further in the future.
"I have tried to space her races as the only time I backed her up quickly she went terribly. I haven't thought too much about where we will go next but there is a nice race at Wingatui on the 5th of March so that might be the option for her." – NZ Racing Desk