Queen Elida NZ. Photo by Dan Costello
TRAINER Brent Lilley insists his star trotting mare Queen Elida is primed to add to her fantastic Menangle record on Saturday night.
The six-year-old, fresh back from a fruitful two-race raid on NZ, has raced three times - all at Group level - at Sydney's home of harness racing for two wins and a second.
The second came almost three years ago in the NSW Trotters' Oaks and Queen Elida has returned since to win the 2022 La Coocaracha (now known as the Macarthur Mile) and the last year's Macarthur Mile.
"This was always a target race. You can't miss these opportunities to race for big money ($100,000) against her own sex," Lilley said.
"She's come through the two runs in NZ really well and will certainly find this easier than taking on Just Believe and Callmethebreeze like she did last time."
Queen Elida's last start was a close-up third in the star-studded $NZ600,000 TAB Trot at Cambridge on April 12.
"She wasn't far away and it was a bit of a stop-start race. She'd have gone close to winning if they'd run along more," Lilley said.
"We did think about taking her back for the Anzac and Rowe Cups after this week, but she's had a long campaign and deserves a break.
"That said, she seems great. She's thrived since coming home from NZ and everything tells me she's got another big run left in her.
"She can have this run and go out for a break before she comes back for some big trotting races late in the year, including another crack at the Inter Dominion."
This year's Inter Dominion final is at Menangle.
