Mayfield-Smith’s odd route to Prov C’ship
Noel Mayfield-Smith has a well-thought-out plan for Unequivocal, although it may seem unorthodox to others.
The trainer is taking the risk the four-year-old mare will be disadvantaged in her autumn target race if she succeeds at Group Three level on Saturday.
Unequivocal has qualified for the $400,000 Provincial Championship at Randwick on April 9, but will also take a stab at the Star Kingdom Stakes at Rosehill.
If she wins the Star Kingdom, she will have to carry an extra three kilograms in the Provincial Championship.
“Some people would look at it and say, this bloke’s crazy,” Mayfield-Smith told AAP.
“If it wins it’ll get a penalty and it shouldn’t be in this race. But the other thought behind it is I wanted to run her over 1200 metres just to give her a blow-out, and not run over 1400.”
Unequivocal won the $100,000 Bede Murray Provincial Championships Qualifier (1400m) on March 11 by half a length from the Kris Lees-trained Danish Twist who also runs in the Star Kingdom ahead of themakes it to the final.
Keeping Unequivocal to a schedule is paramount if she is to win the Provincial Championship.
“You’ve got to get them into a fortnightly cycle as a way to keep their fitness up,” Mayfield-Smith said.
Craig Williams will ride Unequivocal on Saturday before he starts a careless riding ban the following week.
Long term, Mayfield-Smith has high hopes for Unequivocal.
“She will be a mare that’s a stakes winner,” he said.
His biggest concern over the next two weeks is the weather with mare not at her best on rain-affected tracks.