By Duane Ranger
Millie Sampson’s tendon injury which kept her out of racing for 363 days looks well and truly behind her as she tackles her third straight win in Sunday’s Tauranga Cup.
The 5-year-old daughter of Bettor’s Delight has won both of her Cambridge starts on January 1 and 8 but was pulled up in her first run back on the Waipa grass on December 29.
“I had no option but to pull her up rounding the home straight the first time because the tyre had dislodged itself off the rim of the wheel.
“She has gone super since and we have purposely spaced her racing to three weeks this time. We want to look after her,” said co-trainer and driver Josh Dickie.
Millie Sampson is likely to start one of the favourites in Sunday’s $14,000 Gartshore Group Tauranga Grass Cup for the C3 and faster pacers, but Dickie believes Charleston Belle will be the toughest for her to beat.
“This is a big drop in class for Charleston Belle. She has been racing against some top-liners like The Orange Agent, Fight For Glory and Lancewood Lizzie at Alexandra Park.
“James (Stormont) will have her spot on for this race and she is the only one drawn off the front. ‘Millie’ is spot on but she will have to be on her game to beat Charleston Belle,” said Dickie who trains Millie Sampson with his father John at Clevedon.
The bay mare will start from three on the 10 metre handicap and Dickie said she was fit and ready to go a big race in what will be her second grass track event.
“She seems good and has been working well. We are just taking her week-by-week at this stage, but the Country Cups Final in March is the long-term goal.
“Alexandra Park and Cambridge Raceway are also options. She should be racing at Auckland against the premier horses within the next month or so.
“We think quite a bit of her and after being off the scene for so long we want to nurse and look after her. She’s a very genuine racehorse,” said Dickie.
Brydon Delight and Gwendene are the only horses in the field to have placed at Gate Pa, but they will be up against three grass track winners this season.
Jet Black Shadow followed up his Alexandra Park win on December 22 with wins in the Wellington and Otaki Cups; Shestherealdeal won the Wanganui and Te Awamutu Cups; and Saharazona has won at Waipa and Thames.
“It’s never easy on the grass but her class should take her a long way and the 3000 metres shouldn’t be a problem,” Dickie said.
The Nicky Chilcott trained and driven Jet Black Shadow is the only pacer in the field to have won over the 3000m standing start distance.
That was when he won the Otaki Cup last start (January 17) nosing out Lucia Bromac and Brent Weaver. That came two days after winning the Wellington Cup (2200m stand) on the same track.
Trivia –
Mildred (Millie) Sampson, who was born on March 14, 1933) is a former New Zealand long-distance runner who is recognized by the International Association of Athletics Federations as having set a world best in the marathon on 21 July 1964, with a time of 3:19:33 in Auckland. Sampson, reported as having been fatigued due to dancing the previous night and having had no breakfast the morning of the race, ate ice cream and chocolate during the last few miles of the event. She is also a three-time national champion in cross country (1966, 1968, 1972).
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