Trainer Stephen Blair-Edie had plenty to celebrate when notching his 100th win and then producing evergreen mare Come Fly With Me to win the Southland Crystals at Ascot Park on Saturday.
Sprinter Opio Rose got Blair-Edie to his century before Come Fly With Me took him to 101 career wins with her second Southland Crystals victory in three years with the kind of front-running performances she has been known for in her seven seasons of racing.
"It was good to get to 100, to do it from a small country stable and I did it on my own."
Some pinpoint planning from her trainer helped the 9yr-old win the 2200m feature for the second time.
Blair-Edie had run Come Fly With Me in the Cromwell Cup before her win in 2017 and before she ran second to Gallant Boy last year. But the trainer decided to bypass the race and bring his mare into Saturday’s event fresh, more than six weeks after her previous start.
"She is a big heavy mare and I just thought she might be better off not racing on the good track at Cromwell.”
Saturday’s win was the 14th of Come Fly With Me’s career. Blair-Edie plans to back her up in the Tapanui Cup at Gore on Sunday.
