Ben Smith confident with In Her Time ahead of Tatts Tiara
CONFIDENCE is high with Group 1 Tattersall’s Tiara favourite In Her Time ahead of this Saturday’s Doomben feature.
The Ben Smith-trained mare comes into Saturday with a Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap placing under its belt, but until now it has been an underrated type which has progressed impressively.
Despite winning both the Breeders’ Classic and Millie Fox Stakes in Sydney, the four-year-old hasn’t started shorter than $17 in three starts since which also included a fifth in both the Coolmore Stakes and Doomben 10,000.
That underrated tag has been thrown out the window in the Tatts Tiara with In Her Time coming up the $3.40 favourite at Ladbrokes.
“She’s a very well credentialed horse, only 13 starts and three of them have been at the top level,” Smith told HorseBetting.com.au.
“She’s a touch underrated, but she doesn’t know that, she goes out and keeps trying.
“She’s been really competitive and the form stacks up with every run.”
Smith expressed confidence in the way the daughter of Time Thief pulled up after its gritty effort at Doomben on June 10.
“It’s the best she’s pulled up after a run. She keeps progressing and keeps getting better every time she steps out.”
Smith believes giving In Her Time a quick two/three-run preparation works best for the mare which has won five of its 13 starts to date.
“The Tatts was always on the radar, we were looking to have three runs – a similar approach when she won the Breeders,” Smith said. “Then we had a month between runs for the Millie Fox and then two weeks till the Coolmore.
“We’ve taken a similar approach here.”
Its run for fifth in the Doomben 10,000 signalled its ability to mix it with some of the best in Australia and Smith was simply hoping to see how In Her Time travelled in preparation for future targets.
“The 10,000 run wasn’t so much the race we had planned. It wasn’t the grand final, but we wanted to see how she travelled as she hadn’t done it before,” Smith explained.
“That was the main reason for getting up here (Queensland) for the 10,000 then we brought her home, went back up for the Stradbroke and now the Tatts.”
The drying track conditions should help In Her Time which has won four of its eight starts on good tracks. Smith gave the four-year-old a workout at Doomben earlier this week and he was pleased with the results.
“We galloped on the outside of the course proper yesterday (Tuesday). It was a touch soft, but she handled it well.
“If it keeps being fine it will be a nice track for us on Saturday.”
Smith didn’t reveal his set plans for the spring carnival, but will likely stick with his tried and tested plan.
“We might just have worked her out,” he said. “She’s good for two/three runs, she doesn’t spell very well, so rather than give her a long preparation she’ll have three weeks off up here, just have a rest and then get back and target two or three races in the spring.
“We’ll then have another let up and target another couple of races in the autumn.”
Group 1 Tattersall’s Tiara market
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