Diamond can give trainer cutting edge
By Craig Young of Sydney Morning Herald 02/11/02

The conservationist and cow cutter is intent on making an impact on Victoria Derby day. Today's Flemington showcase is considered the premier meeting in the country, and Brian Mayfield-Smith is once again a player with serious intent.

The three-time Sydney premiership-winning trainer, who ended the late Tommy Smith's 33-year reign, gave up the top spot to help save endangered rhinos and elephants in South Africa several years ago.

But Mayfield-Smith is back and keen on winning another Victoria Derby, having struck gold with his only previous runner, Handy Proverb, in 1985.

Diamond Jake lines up in the classic today and Mayfield-Smith warns punters that commanding favourite Helenus isn't going to have it all his own way.

Mayfield-Smith also has elite-grade sprinters Rubitano and Prince Rubiton primed for the Salinger Stakes. Three-year-old Lord Volksraad is running in the Carbine Club Stakes and Mayfield-Smith has a healthy opinion of the gelding. He reckons the horse is really good.

His filly Reactive, which won last time at $41, contests the Nestle Peters Classic.

Her win came as no surprise, Mayfield-Smith saying: "I nearly started punting again."

This is the man who has animal welfare on his mind. The horseman from far north Queensland started with one galloper decades ago and rose to the summit before giving it all away.

From his Flemington base, Mayfield-Smith is already looking to the future.

He is keen on setting up a retirement home for thoroughbreds that have served racing well on the track.

There has been little interest from racing authorities flush with money that is spent on a whim. Mayfield-Smith is doing it alone, using his own land.

And the preparation of today's runners hasn't come without pain; self-inflicted in Mayfield-Smith's case, for he has joined the show circuit and cutting horses are the No1 game.

Last Saturday when the Cox Plate was being run, Mayfield-Smith went bush and joined forces with a cutting horse that cost $26,000. It was his first competition and it won't be his last.

"My legs, my hips, my back, my shoulders and my arms were sore on Sunday," he said at Flemington yesterday.

"I felt like someone had run over me with a truck."

Never one to brag, the former stockman gave himself a rap.

"On one cow in the second event, I went really good. One of the judges who wasn't judging the event, later said there was a 'touch of brilliance in that ride'."

Fundamental mistakes cost Mayfield-Smith dearly in the 26-man event and the judge's comment didn't help, as the horseman "lost his focus".

"Quite a few said I went good for the first time and I know I'll improve," Mayfield-Smith said.

The trainer is banking on Diamond Jake lifting to a new level today. As he pointed out, he is no longer a betting man, but Diamond Jake is quoted at $41 and it would seem bookmakers are being generous, for the trainer, as usual, makes sense.

"He [Diamond Jake] hasn't got to a level yet where you can say, 'That's him, that's as good as he goes'," Mayfield-Smith said. "He should have won that derby trial at Geelong the other day, he would have won it in good time.

"He [the jockey] took the wrong option in the straight, instead of just waiting another 20m - he would have got a couple of runs and won by a length.

"They weren't far outside the record but he pulled him sideways, across heels, and you could see the horse's momentum stop. He had to get going and you could see him gradually reeling them in - the beaten margin was a short-head, a head."

Diamond Jake has thrived since the Geelong outing last Wednesday week and Mayfield-Smith had no hesitation in paying up for today's 2500m test.

"He has come through that well," he said. "The further he goes, the better he'll go, and he has a middle-distance pedigree.

"He is from a very good family, so we will give it a go."

Helenus may be all the rage but Mayfield-Smith has a couple of queries. "A bit of a concern at this stage is that Helenus looks to have a little bit of a temperament problem," he said.

"Derby day, with all that activity, is a worry, and he just wants to throw his head about.

"Over 2500m, you wonder how he is going to settle, while the sectional times in that race at Moonee Valley [AAMI Vase] the other day were moderate."

Mayfield-Smith believes Helenus should have recorded a faster time in winning the vase and that's why he is keen on finding out if Diamond Jake is up to the task.

The trainer also knows the Salinger, run down the straight six, is one of the toughest races to win over the four-day Melbourne Cup carnival but Rubitano and Prince Rubiton are better than good. "It was a matter of throwing a hat in the ring and seeing if it comes out intact," he said.

As for Lord Volksraad, Mayfield-Smith was straight to the point. "He should have won his last two, no maybes or could haves, he should have won."

That's a fact with impact