Newcastle trainer confident ahead of Grafton Carnival’s final day
NEWCASTLE trainer Ben Smith is confident in his decision to hit the road and head towards the northern rivers region with two members of his stable, Anecdote and Sahara Strike, to tackle the final meeting of the Grafton carnival this Sunday.
Smith, who also trains the talented mare In Her Time, will be aiming to take out the main feature at Sunday’s meeting with Anecdote a live chance in the $30,000 Maclean Cup (1400m).
The six-year-old gelding heads into the feature having had just two starts for Smith, a sixth at Canterbury on June 17 before scoring at Muswellbrook over 1300m later that month.
Smith says there is still plenty to learn about Anecdote, but says his form is heading in the right direction to suggest he’ll be competitive this week.
“I’ve only had him in the stables for two starts so we are still working him out, but he seems a pretty tough old gelding and I think once he hits his top form he’ll hold it,” Smith told Horse Betting.
“He is better than that run at Canterbury – he changed trainers, had a big weight and was racing on a heavy track at Canterbury – so it wasn’t ideal and on top of that he had no luck in running.
“He seemed to really come on from that run so we were quietly confident heading to Muswellbrook and he raced well.”
A winner of six of his 27 starts with $141,000 in earnings, Smith concedes Anecdote will face a tough test in the Cup, but also believes he will make his presence felt.
“It’s a nice race – the Maclean Cup is generally always a strong race – but that’s the sort of grade he’s at now so he just has to keep performing consistently.
“He is so genuine and tough – even though he is drawn awkward he has a touch of quality about him and I think he is going to be a horse to take around to target the country cups.”
Smith will also saddle up Sahara Strike which will face the starter in race four, the Benchmark 58 Handicap over the testing 3120m distance.
The chestnut gelding hasn’t won in five starts, but showed he is getting back to his best when finishing second at Gosford over 2600m on June 16.
Following that run Smith took Sahara Strike to Kembla Grange over 2000m, finishing seventh of 14 on July 8.
Despite a below par effort last start, Smith says the son of Niello and Desserts can improve this Sunday.
“Everything is working out well for him even though he was probably a little bit disappointing at Kembla,” Smith said.
“He raced too fiercely but that was the idea to give him a solid hit out over the 2000m and then give him the quick backup.
“He does look suited by the race at Grafton and I think it is a drop in grade on his most recent runs.
“I expect him to race well even though he has the big weight because he is a big solid horse so I don’t think it will worry him as long as he can genuinely run out the trip.”
[rmOC_events_list event_ids=1136348_06]