Aiming to prove she is a very rare mare

SHE’S already a champion among her sex, but on the weekend Amazing Dream will aim to prove she is a very rare mare.

A multiple Group One winner, Amazing Dream boasts 24 wins and 18 placings from 47 starts for earnings of $1,414,760, making her one of the best mares produced in the southern hemisphere.

SIBELIA

Set to compete at Tabcorp Park Melton on Saturday night, Amazing Dream will attempt to become just the third member of the ‘fairer sex’ to capture the time honoured A G Hunter Cup since its inception in 1949 when won by Silver Peak.

Sibelia broke the mould by upstaging the ‘boys’ in 1960 around the saucer-like Ascot Vale Showgrounds circuit.

Overcoming a 12-yard handicap with Merv Adams in the sulky, Sibelia rated a track record 2:07.8 over 2800 metres.

More than three decades later the great Blossom Lady joined Sibelia on the honour roll when she out-toughed a stellar field at Moonee Valley.

Shaking off a 20-metre mark, Blossom Lady rated 2:01.2 for the  3280-metre journey.

A year later the grand New Zealander cast aside a 30-metre handicap against one of the strongest fields assembled in Melbourne to score in 2:00.6, becoming only the fourth pacer to complete consecutive Cup wins.

While history is against Amazing Dream, she does have one factor in her favour – Anthony Butt.

Butt has not only won a record seven Hunter Cups, he understands what it takes to win with a mare having driven Blossom Lady.

AMAZING DREAM

Trained by Nathan Purdon, Amazing Dream has drawn to gain the run of the race from barrier eight, with King Of Swing expected to lead from the pole.

“It’s a great draw for her,” Butt said. “I reckon King Of Swing will lead and hold the front, which gives her an almighty chance.

“I don’t know if she can be compared to Blossom Lady just yet, but she is getting up to being mentioned alongside her.

“She has won so many good races and beaten the boys so often and a Hunter Cup win will certainly lift her status further.”

HOOFNOTE: Blossom Lady’s remarkable Hunter Cup connection continued almost a decade after her second success when her son, Mister D G, was triumphant in the 2004 edition.