Lisa Allpress has been engaged to ride We Can Say It Now in the $200,000 Captain Cook Stakes at Trentham on Saturday.
We Can Say It Now was ridden by Leith Innes when she won the Levin Classic (1600m) against male 3yr-olds at Otaki last Friday.
Her 51kg under weight-for-age conditions in the Captain Cook (1600m) ruled out Innes taking the mount.
We Can Say It Now remained at Awapuni, rather than returning to the Cambridge stable of Murray and Bjorn Baker.
"We are pretty happy with her condition but will continue to monitor her before making a final decision on a start in the Captain Cook," Bjorn Baker said.
Allpress is the leading jockey this season with 53 wins, one ahead of Opie Bosson.
The Bakers are second in the trainers' premiership with 23 wins.
Lisa Latta leads the table with 30 wins.
The male 3yr-olds Brutus (1979), Straight Order (1989) and Allegro (1995) have won the Captain Cook Stakes since it was first staged in 1977.
The race was then run in March.
Allpress has informed trainer Michael Pitman that she will be available to ride Coup Align at Waikouaiti on January 1, the same day as the City Of Auckland Cup at Ellerslie.
Allpress rode Coup Align to win the Stewards' Handicap at Riccarton last month for the second time.
She rode Coup Align to win at Waikouaiti last January.
Salvatore, winner of his last four starts, is almost certain to have his next race in the Challenge Stakes at Awapuni on December 18.
Salvatore won the $70,000 Eagle Technology Stakes, a 1600m handicap, under 56kg at Ellerslie last Saturday following wins in the weight-for-age Tauranga Stakes (1600m) at Tauranga, a 1600m handicap at Ellerslie and a 1400m handicap there.
The Challenge Sakes is a wfa 1400m.
Anne Herbert, the Cambridge trainer, has all but ruled out a start for Salvatore in the Captain Cook Stakes.
"He seems to have come through the race well and I am leaving my options open until tomorrow morning [Tuesday] but it is most likely we will wait for Awapuni," Herbert said.
"He has had four races in a month and it will take himtime to recover.
"It is also a long trip from here to Wellington."
Herbert said she was thankful for the patience of the owners of Salvatore, Paul and Jude Pearce, who bred the horse.
The 6yr-old Salvatore did not begin racing until he was four.
"He simply didn't have the confidence to race until he was four," Herbert said.
"He was a very nervous horse.
We gave him a lot of work and a lot of time and perseverance just to get him going how he should be going."
The Pearces are long-time clients of the Herbert stable since it was based at Awapuni.
The stable won the Challenge Stakes with Tit For Taat in 2001 and '02.
Salvatore has now won 10 races and been 9 times placed from 27 starts for $233,000 in stakes.
He has won won four times on good tracks but Herbert is wary of over-racing the horse on firm tracks after he jarred up last summer.
The group two $100,000 Rich Hill Handicap (1600m) at Ellerslie on January 1 is another appealing race for Salvatore, who has been ridden in his last two wins by Matthew Cameron.
Salvatore settled handy on the outer on Saturday and bounded clear in the closing stages to win by 3 lengths.
