IT will soon be all systems go for rookie racer Evening Press as she bids for glory on the track, writes Peter Martini.

The young racehorse - leased by readers of the award-winning newspaper - has enjoyed a restful winter after her debut season last year, but has been kept in trim by trainer Tim Etherington, who will step up the intensity of her sessions this month.

The new Flat season begins in March, with Press most likely to race for the first time this term towards the middle of April, when the turf gets harder and faster.

"She's done really well through the winter," said Etherington, pictured right. "Basically she's had a bit of a rest but we made it an active rest whereby she does some good walking every morning to keep her muscles going.

"She's put on weight, which she needed to do, has built up her muscles physically and generally looks a lot stronger. I'm really pleased with her. She's ready to get going again.

"We knew last year that she will want to race on the quicker ground and that usually comes towards the end of April, so that's when we're going to be aiming for."

Press ran in only three races as a two-year-old last year, finishing unplaced each time, but - as reported by the Evening Press - she had effectively started her training regime later than most of her rivals because of her date of birth and was forced to run on end-of-season softer ground which she dislikes.

Indeed, she was kept relatively green during her debut campaign but Etherington is confident that she - like the rest of her family, including multi-race winners River Falls, Rambo Flyer, Kayo and K-Battery - will get better with age, starting this term.

"The last race of her three disappointed me but the ground was just not right. She really is better for the quicker ground but we didn't get that."

As for the coming season, he added: "I'm as happy with her now as you can be in this job. All her family get better as they get older and she already looks better physically.

"If she follows in the family footsteps we will be very happy."

Evening Press is Yorkshire born and bred.

She came into the world on May 2, 1999 at Sir Tatton Sykes' Sledmere Stud, near Driffield, and comes with a strong family pedigree.

Her father is River Falls, the winner of the 1991 Gimcrack Stakes at York under jockey Bruce Raymond.

Her mother is Shiny Kay, who has produced a string of winners including Evening Press' half-brother Rambo Flyer. He racked up £72,299 in prize money, winning 16 races.

One of Evening Press' half-brothers, Kayo, was another money-spinner, winning ten races.

Further down the blood-line, Evening Press' grandmother, Kajetana, produced K-Battery, who won nine races and £89,822, including the Lincoln Handicap at Doncaster as a 25-1 shot in 1986 for Norton trainer Bill Elsey.

Updated: 12:34 Tuesday, February 12, 2002