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Brian Mayfield-Smith
has a stable of top chances engaged for a great weekend's racing, writes
Craig Young.
Armed with the
best strike rate in the country, Flemington-based trainer and well-known
conservationist Brian Mayfield-Smith is the central figure in this weekend's
thoroughbred feast down south.
The man who ended
the legendary Tommy Smith's 33-year reign as the premier trainer in
Sydney is now winning a race every four starters, and the team Mayfield-Smith
has engaged this weekend is the envy of many.
"At the moment
I'm lucky, I've got a few good horses on the go and I'm trying to capitalise
on it," Mayfield-Smith said on Thursday. "Hopefully I'll be
up there giving it to them on the weekend."
Leading the Mayfield-Smith
cast into action at Caulfield on Saturday is the outstanding three-year-old
filly Innovation Girl, whose opposition includes West Australian iron
horse Northerly and AJC Australian Derby winner Don Eduardo.
Northerly hasn't
been seen since making it consecutive wins in the Cox Plate last spring.
Other group1 winners
contesting the Orr Stakes are Pernod and Mr Murphy, and Caulfield Cup
runner-up Fields Of Omagh is also running.
"As a racehorse,
he [Northerly] is a champion but he's getting older now and the 1400
metre first-up is a concern," Mayfield-Smith said. "A horse
of her [Innovation Girl's] ability and record should have a little bit
too much ping around Caulfield.
"She broke
a course record in her first start in a race at Bendigo and every start
since has broken or nudges track records. She has won 10 of 13 and been
placed in another two. Since returning from South Africa I haven't seen
any other horse do that."
Innovation Girl
won The Debonair with ease at Flemington last weekend and is taking
on group 1 company for the first time on Saturday.
"I don't think
she was fit the other day," Mayfield-Smith said. "She was
a bit fresh and she looks fitter this week, so we might as well give
it a go. She has definitely got the class and the conditions suit us.
I wouldn't be tackling a race like the Orr Stakes if it wasn't at Caulfield
and if Northerly had had a run."
About the only base
not covered in the Mayfield-Smith camp is the two-year-old draft, now
being dominated by new sensation Murphy's Blu Boy, which lines up in
the Blue Diamond Prelude.
"I was in New
Zealand and haven't seen him in the flesh but naturally he looked impressive
on TV when winning the other day," Mayfield-Smith said.
"He ran terrific
time with something in hand, and until he fails you've got to say he's
a very good horse."
Mayfield-Smith's
Doncaster Handicap-nominated three-year-old Lord Volksraad runs in Saturday's
Autumn Stakes, with former premier Melbourne jockey Brett Prebble replacing
claiming apprentice Michelle Payne.
"He's a very
promising horse who didn't have a lot of luck last start," Mayfield-Smith
said.
Troubled sprinter
Prince Rubiton will carry top weight of 58 kilos in the JRA Stakes and
Mayfield-Smith warns the horse is ready to run well fresh.
"He's going
well, has his share of weight, but should give it a shake," Mayfield-Smith
said. "He goes well fresh, he likes Caulfield."
In the opening race
at Caulfield, Mayfield-Smith has Greek Adonis engaged. Last time out,
Greek Adonis, which has won six from 10 since joining Mayfield-Smith,
cut his leg after being involved in an early scrimmage and got going
only over the final stages.
"At the time
it was bleeding it would have hurt," Mayfield-Smith said. "The
1600m will suit him ... he can be up there and bowl along on the pace."
Another interesting
Mayfield-Smith runner at Caulfield is the former West Australian galloper
Galapagos Girl, which resumes in the Moduline Plate, while on Sunday
at Flemington Mayfield-Smith's multiple group1-winning sprinter Rubitano
returns in a crackerjack Lightning Stakes.
Run over 1,000m
down the straight course, the group1 Lightning has attracted an outstanding
field of sprinters including last year's winner, Spinning Hill, and
crack three-year-olds Bel Esprit, Choisir and Snowland.
"You'd reckon
he'd shake the life out of it," Mayfield-Smith replied when asked
about the wellbeing of Rubitano.
"He had a good
workout when galloping down the straight track on Tuesday. I don't clock
my horses but he impressed. More importantly, he impressed the rider,
Nash Rawiller."
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