Catkins is not the best horse Hugh Bowman has ever ridden but she might just be the most genuine.
A mare with an unflinching will to win, Catkins has come out on top in 13 of her 28 starts and missed a top-three finish just five times.
Ahead of her bid to add the Millie Fox Stakes at Rosehill on Saturday to her record, her regular rider Bowman has paid her a huge compliment.
“I don’t think I’ve ever ridden a mare, a horse, as consistent as Catkins,” Bowman said.
“If she brings her first-up form into this race she’ll be hard to beat.”
The Chris Waller-trained Catkins is the odds-on favourite to collect her 10th stakes win in the fillies and mares feature.
However, a Group One victory still eludes her.
Bowman believes Catkins will have to extend her brilliance if she is to join the ranks of elite race winners during the Sydney autumn carnival.
“I feel 1200, 1400 (metres) are really her optimum distances but the trouble is, the best races for fillies and mares are 1500, a mile,” Bowman said.
“When she runs into those top class horses over the bigger distances they tend to get the better of her.”
Bookmakers don’t expect Catkins’ rivals to get the better of her at Rosehill on Saturday.
She is at $1.80 with Avoid Lightning ($3.50) and Lilliburlero, who stretched Catkins last start in the Breeders Classic, the $4.60 third pick.
