Hayden Tinsley has been riding Mega Belt but Opie Bosson rode the 7yr-old to a last-start win over the distance tomorrow, 1400m, at Otaki on June 27 when Tinsley was on holiday.
"Hayden was to have ridden Mega Belt on Saturday but he was unable to make the weight (55kg) and with the agreement of the owners he swapped mounts with Lisa, who was riding Samurai (58kg)," Kevin Gray, the Palmerston North trainer of Mega Belt, said.
Allpress won the Masterton Cup (1200m) on Mega Belt at Woodville in May last year.
Gray said he was happy with the outcome regarding riders as Tinsley and Allpress both served their apprenticeships with him.
Allpress has a personal best 105 wins this season. She won the Opunake Cup as Lisa Mumby in 1999 (Arigna) and 2001 (Zabeel's Angel).
Bosson, who won the race on Don't Ya Lovett (2006), has the mount on topweight Bulginbaah. The 9yr-old has been placed in his two starts following a two-month break.
Bruce Almighty, the winner of five cup races this season, is back on the track where he won the Taranaki Cup (2000m) in February. He has also won the Greymouth, Gore, Marlborough and Canterbury Cups and the Wanganui Challenge Stakes (1600m) at his last start on June 5. He has won four of his five starts at New Plymouth.
Gary Hennessey, who trained Pindy to win the race last year, has Spare A Fortune engaged tomorrow.
Matthew Ward has had his apprentice allowance reduced to 3kg after riding two winners at Foxton yesterday. Heis apprenticed to Grant Searle.
