Norm Gardner is certain he has the right horse to give apprentice Kayla Nisbet a milestone win at Randwick.
Gardner will put Atom Eve to the test under Highway Handicap conditions on Saturday as Nisbet continues an association with the unbeaten filly.
Nisbet is back in the racing game after considering her future in the saddle following her time in Victoria with leading trainer David Hayes.
And Atom Eve looms as Nisbet’s best chance to win a race on a Sydney metropolitan track to complete her comeback.
If horse and jockey keep their perfect record going, it will be Nisbet’s 20th city winner and her allowance will be reduced from 3kg to 2kg.
Atom Eve is a clear favourite after Albury and Canberra wins that have had good country judges earmarking the three-year-old for better races.
“She nearly broke the track record on a soft track at Canberra,” Gardner said.
“She’s got a lot of speed.”
Gardner has raced Atom Eve’s older sibling Nights On Fire through the Highway series before the mare covered ground when she was in the placings at Warwick Farm during the week.
He said Atom Eve suffered growing pains before he could give her a proper racing preparation.
“I always had a big wrap on her but she was going sore all the time, going through growth spurts,” Gardner said.
Despite missing out with Nights On Fire, Gardner is an unabashed fan of the Highway concept for country-trained horses.
“In the case of Atom Eve, this is a great stepping stone. You couldn’t want a better progression for her,” he said.
Atom Eve will be one of two unbeaten fillies in the race with Madame De Ban heading to Sydney after successive Murwillumbah wins for trainer Matthew Dunn.
