By Michael Guerin
Robert Dunn knows what to do with Always B You long term but the problem is what to do with her right now.
The talented mare scored the biggest win of her career after a beautiful Peter Ferguson drive saw her take all the short cuts to grab the $30,000 Powell Transport North Island Breeders Stakes at Alexandra Park on Friday.
She wasn’t the best away from her 10m handicap but in a race with some pressure she ducked to the passing lane at the right time and just got up to beat leader Diamonds Are Forever.
Favourite Mantra Blue never got a cart into a winning position and ran on okay.
The win was no surprise as Always B You had been racing the likes of The Surfer and Jeremiah recently and Dunn said his stable knew last year she was a good horse in the making.
“We thought she would be up with the good fillies but she hurt herself in a paddock so didn’t get the chance to show it,” he explains.
“We are confident she will be good enough to take on the best mares race later in the season.
“The problem is what do we do with her now? I will have a look at the programmes but she will be getting up in the grades for the sort of races they have available up here.
“So she might even need to have a break and get ready for those better mares races later in the year and early next year.”
The win continued a consistent run for the northern arm of the Robert and Jenna Dunn stable with the stable now a constant and very important force at Alexandra Park.
“We had 16 up here a few weeks ago but I have sent six back home but two more are coming up,” says the patriarch of the Dunn family.
“We love having a stable up here and the opportunity it gives us to find the best place for horses to race.
“We will have 6 or 7 racing here next Friday.”
The other standout performers on a night where Alexandra Park played second string to Addington were Iron Love and Greased Lightnin.
Iron Love overcame a 20m handicap to win the main trot, nosing out Hillbilly Blues and Halberg for a Wallis/Hackett trifecta.
And Greased Lightnin outsprinte a brave Runkle Crunch in the last race after a sizzling early burn set the race up for the swoopers, with the runner-up giving the winner the perfect cart into the home straight.
The winner paced a 1:54.9 mile rate for the 1700m and showed once again how hard Derby contenders are to beat when dropping back into grade racing.
