If there is one horse you can rely upon in Sunday’s $100,000 O’Shea Realty Sprint at Northam it has to be the Jim Taylor-trained Vain Raider. 

The Kenvain gelding rarely lets you down and his record of eight wins and nine placings from 18 career starts speaks for itself.

To miss the money only once during his career is testament to his consistency and courage and for an initial purchase price of $30,000 he has certainly rewarded his owners in full and beyond with $322,100 in stake earnings.

He goes into Sunday’s feature as the defending champion following his victory over Beat the Storm and Lachino and on the back of one trial effort when third behind Keytomoney over 1000 metres at Belmont Park a fortnight ago.

So when you throw all that information into the mix combined with a brilliant first up record of three wins and a second placing from four starts there is much to like about the prospects of Vain Raider.

But trainer Jim Taylor has a warning for punters concerning one of his rivals.

“Vain Raider will be thereabouts once again but you have to pay serious respect to Kid Choisir,” Taylor said.

“When Paul Harvey travels to Northam to ride at 53 (kilograms) you know he must be thinking he is half-way home.”

Kid Choisir is the obvious danger and tuned up for his winter assault with an easy trial win at Lark Hill in late March.

There is a touch of class and brilliance about this horse and his return to Northam is a bonus to the club who should be congratulated in attracting a strong line up of talented sprinters.

The four-year-old ended his last preparation with a fifth placing at weight-for-age in the Winterbottom Stakes but his form prior was outstanding with four wins and a second placing from five starts.

He is drawn to get the run of the race from a gun position in barrier four and looks the likely leader but shouldn’t expect to get things all his own way out in front.

“We’ll be applying the pressure on the home corner if he leads and he won’t want to get into a dog fight that’s for sure,” Taylor said.

“My horse has shown in the past that when he gets into a dog fight he usually prevails.”