Maitland trainer Mitch Chapple was pleased to snare Amanda Turnbull to drive his in-form mare Yoha when she steps up to group 3 level in the $30,600 Stylish Memphis Stakes (1609m) at Menangle on Saturday night.
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Cam Hart drove Yoha to victory at Menangle two weeks ago in a lesser mares race, giving Chapple his first city winner as a trainer.
However, Hart is away driving in Queensland this weekend and Chapple was lucky enough to get Turnbull to take the reins.
"She's a superstar, Amanda, and one of the best drivers in NSW, so it's a real good pick-up," Chapple said.
Yoha handed up the lead to Yarraman Bella last start before coming over the top late to win. The pair clash again on Saturday. Favourite Fairy Tinkabell has gate 10.
Given her lower rating, Yoha has drawn well in four, which will become three if the emergency comes out.
Chapple said Yoha would use her handy gate speed again to be in the mix early.
"She had a week off last week because there were no races for her at Newcastle or Menangle, so a couple of weeks to get over that run and she's ready to rock and roll," he said.
"She beat Fairy Tinkabell, the favourite, when she was down there [with Jason Grimson] and she's been around the money all the time, so she's earned her chance at a group 3 race.
"We'll punch forward and depending how much speed is on the outside, we'll just let her do her thing. She'll be in the money somewhere.
"It's a good quality mares race. They are probably the best mares in NSW currently going, so we're going to see where we are against them."
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