Win Seals Ekstreme Return To Australia

Sunday, 02 May 2010 04:15

Two unplaced runs in Sydney this autumn have not deterred trainer Bryce Revell from heading back across the Tasman with his class mare Ekstreme.

The four-year-old regained winning form on a slow track when she took out Saturday's Group Two weight-for-age Travis Stakes (2000m) for fillies and mares at Te Rapa In New Zealand.

Her two previous races had been at the Sydney autumn carnival where she failed to figure but Revell was not disappointed.

"They were both Group One races and Sydney has the toughest racing in Australia," Revell told NZPA.

Ekstreme had also been unplaced in three earlier races in New Zealand but they too were all Group One events and the key to Saturday's win was the slow track, Revell said.

"We had been more than happy with her - we just needed a wet track to be competitive at Group One level," he said.

"We got a wet track and we were super confident."

Ekstreme is now headed to the Brisbane winter carnival with her first assignment the Group One weight-for-age Doomben Cup (2020m) on May 22.

Beyond that race, Revell said he would play it by ear.

"We'll probably hang around for a while and see what we can do with her," he said.

Revell is confident Ekstreme will cope with more racing despite Saturday's race being the 10th of her current campaign which dates back to last October. He said Ekstreme had size on her side.

"I think she's still coming up. She's a big, strong mare," he said. I looked at her in the birdcage and she was probably the biggest mare there."

After her win in the Captain Cook, had talked about sending Ekstreme for the Cox Plate in the spring but has revised those thoughts.

"You can't really do Brisbane in the winter and then Melbourne in the spring," he said.

Revell, 40, has been training for about 10 years. He is a former jumps jockey whose wins included the Great Eastern Steeplechase in South Australia on the John Wheeler-trained Touch Judge.