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By Greg Prichard

Hunter Valley trainer Todd Howlett will take a fantastic recent winning strike-rate into the Taree meeting on Tuesday where he likes the chances of his five-year-old gelding Prince Akeem in the Kennards Hire Taree Class 3 Handicap.

Prince Akeem’s three wins have been over 1400m (twice) and 1280m, putting the 1412m of this race right in his sweet spot.

The improvement in the track condition from the heavy range into a Soft 7 after good drying weather in recent days is another plus, because all of his wins have been in soft going. He is the $3.50 favourite with TAB.

“He’s much better off if it’s not really heavy," Todd Howlett [pictured left] said. “Right sort of distance, right sort of class for him.

"The rest will be up to the horse and Dylan (Gibbons, his jockey). He’s a good jockey and he’s riding well.”

Ahead of today's Tamworth meeting, Howlett has been on a run from August 20 to September 11 in which he had 21 starters for seven winners – two in Sydney and the other five at country venues. That’s a winning ratio of 33.3%.

He is very astute at placing his horses and is prepared to travel from his Lower Belford base to wherever the right race is for them.

“I wasn’t aware of the exact numbers, but I knew it was pretty good,” Howlett said when asked about his recent run. “I’m pretty happy with the way things are going – I’m just hoping to keep it going that way!

“We had a lot of turnover of horses going back about 18 months and the new horses are coming along really well. It’s all about getting the right horses and treating them well and having a good staff, which I’ve got.

“You don’t have to have a lot of horses in the stable if they’re good enough. Prince Akeem’s been up for a while, but he’s had a couple of freshen-ups and he spends a lot of time out in the day yards and having a trot and canter on our little track here. He thrives on all of that, so he’s happy.”

Howlett also has Rift ($8.50) in the MNCRA 2021-22 Leading Apprentice Georgie McDonnell Maiden Plate over 1007m, but he is still tossing up whether to run her from the wide barrier.

Gates open for the Taree meeting at 11am and entry costs $10 (free for members), with the first race at 1.25pm. Full bar, bistro, bookmaker and TAB betting facilities will be available.

View the final fields with full form & race replays for Taree here