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By Graeme White

Canberra trainer Matthew Kelley has developed a winning run that shows no signs of slowing down late in the racing season as he heads into the Albury meeting on Monday with Starlight Girl and Rathlin.

Kelley has made the most of the opportunities with some gallopers previously trained by some of the biggest names in Australian racing.

Starlight Girl is a case in point as a former Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott prepared filly who has found her niche racing in the country.

Trainer Matthew Kelley (Pic: Bradley Photos).

The three-year-old has won her past two starts at Queanbeyan and Goulburn after a first-up second for him behind Apic Run which has won again since and bene placed in Sydney.

Kelley has prepared 11 winners from his past 50 starters with his best winning return coming in recent months.

Starlight Girl is the $2.50 fav on the NSW TAB for the Mike Gardiner Class 3 (1000m) with Quayde Krogh in the saddle.

Stablemate Spinosaurus has been scratched after winning at Goulburn on Friday.

Kelley said his recent run of success came down to having the right horses in the right races and he feels the best could still be ahead.

Stable star I’ve Bean Tryin is gearing up for another tilt at The Kosciuszko after finishing fifth last year behind dual winner Front Page who is set to again contest the feature country race first-up

“I have a lot of nice horses working through their grades and the ones that have joined the stable have done a good job so far,” he said.

There are numerous examples of this with Grins winning one of his four starts for Kelley since joining from the Snowden stable.

Champagne In Lace has won three for Kelley, while Spinosaurus has won his past two, Grins broke through at his first start for him and Spineless won her debut.

“We try and find the right horses that can win in the country and hopefully go on with it,” he said.

Starlight Girl has been a perfect example of his methods after he started training her when she failed at her first two starts.

The filly didn’t race for 12 months and looks well suited after winning a Benchmark 66 over the sprint distance last start.

“It is hard to keep winning but she is going just as well at home and should be hard to beat,” he suggested.

Meanwhile, Rathlin ($6 NSW TAB) will also be ridden by Krogh in the Bur Real Estate Benchmark 82 (1600m).

Rathlin finished just behind one of his Albury opponents, Ready To Humble, at Wagga two starts ago before a two lengths sixth at Canberra.

Spitfire is the $3.60 favourite and is unbeaten at Albury including one at 1600 metres.

The five-year-old is back to country grade after a closing sixth at Warwick Farm and a midfield display in the Country Cup at Scone.

Le Sante ($4.20) has been solid in his two starts since joining the Keith Dryden stable after a long break from racing.

He is yet to miss a top three finish in four starts on soft tracks and steps up to a mile for the first time this campaign.

The consistent Daly Heads beat home the top weight Ready To Humble the last time they raced at Albury.

Ready To Humble’s jockey Coriah Keatings has won 42 races this season and sits highly in the NSW country apprentice rankings while she has the Goulburn and Canberra titles within reach.

Keatings said plenty of hard work had paid dividends with another winning double at Goulburn on Friday adding to her tally.

“My boss Nick Olive has been terrific allowing me to ride some outside work and the results have come off the back of plenty of work and kilometres,” she said.

All the fields, form and replays for Monday's Albury meeting