Rubitano ready for Lightning Strike
Sydney Morning Herald 03/02/03

Having lowered the boom on crack Sydney colt Thorn Park at Flemington on Saturday, trainer Brian Mayfield-Smith will aim to repeat the dose when star sprinter Rubitano tackles Sydney's best speedsters in the group 1 Lightning Stakes at Flemington on Sunday.

The presence of last year's Lightning Stakes winner Spinning Hill and fellow Sydney-trained three-year-old flyers Snowland and Choisir holds no fear for Mayfield-Smith and his dual group 1-winning five-year-old. "What have they done compared to Rubitano?," Mayfield-Smith asked defiantly, a day after his top-class filly Innovation Girl left Thorn Park in her wake in the group 2 Debonair.

"He [Rubitano] has won two group 1s down the straight. He is a seriously good sprinter. He's a proven performer at group 1 level and down the straight at Flemington. He's the horse to beat."

While Spinning Hill, winner of the group 1 Manikato Stakes during the spring, shoots to become the first horse since Schillaci in 1992-93 to win back-to-back Lightnings, Choisir and Snowland are stepping up for their first crack at a group 1 sprint down the famous straight six (1200 metres) at Flemington. Both colts are yet to register a group 1 win.

Rubitano already has the Newmarket Handicap and Salinger Stakes on his group 1 resume. He is yet to finish out of a place in five races down the Flemington straight, notching three wins, a second and a third.

Rubitano, which hasn't raced since winning the Salinger Stakes on November 2, breezed through a 1000m barrier trial at Ballarat on January 24 that included Delago Brom, runner-up in Saturday's Debonair.

The star-studded Lightning field will also contain John Symons's star three-year-old Bel Esprit.