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By Greg Prichard

The husband-and-wife combination of jockey Luke Rolls and trainer Cassandra Schmidt has an excellent chance to get among the wins at the Taree race meeting on Tuesday.

The pair will join forces in three of the seven races on the card, starting with lightly-raced three-year-old gelding Enzoni in race two, the Stacks Law Firm Country Boosted Maiden Plate over 1250 metres.

They will also pair up with Veecee in race six, the Gloucester Bowling Club Benchmark 74 Handicap over 1000 metres, and Kobaytera in the last race, the MLW Fencing Gloucester Cup Benchmark 58 Handicap over 1400 metres.

Luke Rolls on Kobaytera (Pic: Trackside)

Four-year-old mare Kobaytera had registered three placings and no wins in her first six career starts, but since joining the Schmidt stable she has registered a fifth followed by two straight wins.

Rolls was the jockey in each of those wins, which were both at Port Macquarie, and obviously knows the horse very well now.

It’s another rise in class for Kobaytera, but she has handled her recent challenges well and from an inside barrier and with a significant weight pull on the more experienced horses in the race she should be in the firing line for a long way.

Kobaytera has drawn barrier eight and if all six of the emergencies came out she would start from barrier four.

Schmidt has another runner in Kobaytera’s race, the six-year-old mare Merapi which will be ridden by 3kg-claiming apprentice Leanne Boyd, and that horse is not without a chance either.

Four-year-old gelding Veecee has had one run back from a spell and was impressive in a Class 3 race over 1000 metres that day at Port Macquarie, finishing well from seventh on the turn to run second. Rolls was her jockey in that race.

Enzoni is still learning how to race and needs to improve on his first two career starts, but it isn’t a strong maiden event that he’ll run in and he’s beautifully drawn in barrier four.

Schmidt, who trains at Port Macquarie, has trained six winners this year and Rolls has ridden five of them.

Rolls has a full book of rides at Taree and his other four mounts are for four different trainers.

It’s been a successful season for Rolls so far, because with still two-and-a-half months to go in it he has ridden 61 winners in NSW. His full-season total last year was 43 and in the two seasons before that it was 58 and 37.

Rolls has a knack for getting the best out of horses that are not among the favourites in the betting markets, so whether he’s on one of the main fancies or one at double-figure odds his ability commands plenty of respect.

*First race 12.50pm. Gates open midday. Full TAB and bookmaker facilities. The Turf Bistro and bar inside the Winning Post Function Centre open. General admission $10 and concession $5. See Manning Valley Race Club Facebook page for more details.

All the fields, form and replays for Tuesday's Taree meeting