Collett Chooses Levante in Group 1

It was an agonising decision for jockey Samantha Collett in selecting her mount for the Gr1 NZ Thoroughbred Breeders' Stakes (1600m) at Te Aroha on Saturday, and she is hoping she has chosen wisely. Collett had the choice of Group 1 winner Travelling Light, last start Group 3 winner Coventina Bay, and exciting Group 1 performer Levante. The Waikato hoop elected to go with the latter based on her potential, but admitted it was an extremely hard decision. "It has been a hard decision, but Levante is the way I have gone," Collett said. They have all been extremely loyal to me, which is what made the decision harder. Collett has a distinct advantage heading into Saturday's feature race over her fellow riders, having been familiar with a third of the field. Both Coventina Bay and Levante are horses that are going to get back, which always makes it a bit tricky, especially when you are giving horses like Avantage a head-start, which has been the undoing of Levante a couple of times already," Collett said. Avantage looms as Levante's biggest threat on Saturday, but Collett is ruling out any talks of another potential match race between the pair. "As much as I rate Levante, I have never ridden a horse in my career as good as Avantage in terms of what she has done already," conceded Collett who been buoyed by Levante's improved starting manners of late.

Sam Collette will reunite with Levante (pic: Trish Dunell)