With one milestone parcelled up already this week, champion jockey Matt Cameron will seek to secure his first Fiber Fresh New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders' Stakes at Te Aroha on Saturday.
Cameron claimed his 100th winner of the season at Matamata on Wednesday when he guided the Jason Bridgman-trained Astrid to success and the Te Akau Racing stable jockey will wear the same colours in his quest for Group One glory this weekend.
Cameron's mount is last-start Te Rapa winner Spellbinder, a winner of five of her 11 starts and already well proven in top company.
"I galloped her on Tuesday at Matamata with Needlly. There was give in the track and she worked amazingly," Cameron said.
"I was just swinging off her. It was probably the best work I've ridden on her, at least right up with her work leading into the 1000 Guineas."
Spellbinder finished third to stablemate Costa Viva in last season's Gr.1 NZ 1000 Guineas at Riccarton, though that remains a slightly grating memory for Cameron, who had the choice between the fillies and plumped for the wrong one.
Cameron was faced with a similar choice for the Breeders' Stakes this weekend, with Bridgman having two runners - Spellbinder and Abidewithme.
"It always seems to be the case, that Jason has two runners that clash and that it's not an easy decision," said Cameron, whose best finish in the race was a third placing on Diademe in 2013.
"Abidewithme is a decent horse and she should have won a Group One by now, but I just felt Spellbinder was on the way up and I've got a high opinion of her. I picked her ahead of Costa Viva for the Guineas and I'm happy to be on her this weekend. Hopefully I made the right choice."
Having studied recent films of the Breeders' Stakes, Cameron believes runners close to the speed have an advantage and he feels Spellbinder will be well suited on Saturday.
"Spellbinder can put herself in the race and race on speed and that helped sway me to go for her," he said.
"I expect her to go well and I see she's come up favourite. Murray [Baker] and Andrew [Forsman] have two good horses [Sports Illustrated and Diademe] and neither will mind the sting out of the track and Atacama is going well. It's a pretty even field."
Spellbinder was a $6.50 favourite for the Breeders' Stakes with TAB bookmakers on Thursday ahead of Sports Illustrated and Atacama at $7.
Cameron, who has a strong book of eight rides at Te Aroha on Saturday including the resuming Costa Viva in the Rating 85 sprint, remains on track to claim back-to-back premiership wins, with the TAB quoting him at $1.35 and his closest rival Danielle Johnson at $3.
"It was good to get that 100th winner for the season. It came a bit later than last year when I rode Who Shot Thebarman to win the Auckland Cup to bring up my 100," Cameron said.
"To bring up the 100 riding one for Te Akau was great."
