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Trudy Thornton admits she was torn between two regular rides when it came to choosing her mount for Saturday's Gr.2 Cal Isuzu Stakes) at Te Rapa.
The Cambridge jockey has plumped for Gr.3 Taranaki Breeders Stakes winner Kisses over Celebrity Miss, who she rode to third in the Gr.1 Livamol Classic at Hastings before winning the Listed Jakkalberry Classic at Rotorua.
Thornton said she would have rather the pair hadn't clashed and she hadn't been forced to choose between two mares she rates highly.
"It's very unfortunate and I can tell you it wasn't an easy decision. I've got good records on both mares and they've both been very good to me."
Thornton was aboard the Mark Fraser-Campin-trained Kisses for her Gr.2 Rich Hill Mile second placing at Ellerslie earlier this year and her Taranaki Breeders Stakes win at Hawera earlier this preparation and she hoped she could add to her feature race record with a bold performance in the Te Rapa weight-for-age fillies and mares feature.
"She worked well in company with Il Cavallo at Te Rapa last week and she worked extremely well on her own at Cambridge on Tuesday," Thornton said.
"She'll run a race. She's drawn an awkward alley [barrier 14] and she's a mare that takes a bit to settle and she needs cover, but she's certainly good enough to win. In races like this, you need luck but if she can get cover and get a good trip, then she should be hard to beat."
Six-year-old Iffraaj mare Kisses is the highest-rated mare in the race, one point above Celebrity Miss, prepared by Cambridge's Lee Somervell, with whom Thornton has developed a formidable partnership with over the past year.
"I'll be riding my own race on Saturday, but I know the other horse is an extremely good mare and if she happens to win, I'll be the first one to congratulate Lee," Thornton said.
Thornton's mount in the Gr.3 SkyCity Hamilton Waikato Cup (2400m) is the Mark Brosnan-trained Apache Fireworks, another of her regular rides who gets in on the 53kg minimum.
"It was a bit of a mystery with her run last start," Thornton said of the Sir Percy mare's last-start seventh at Ellerslie in Rating 75 company.
"She's better than that and I won't be reading too much into it. She had run well for third at Te Rapa the start before and she should be a good lightweight chance."