The last time a meeting was held at Flemington, South Australian trainers had a field day.

It was the final day of the Melbourne Cup carnival and Phillip Stokes collected a treble with Murray Bridge trainer Mick Huxtable scoring with Lord Aspen.

Stuart Padman, another Murray Bridge-based trainer, is planning to make the trip over the border on Saturday with the lightly raced mare Tipperary Lil.

Providing she works well in the next couple of days, the daughter of Blevic will be on the float on Thursday night to contest the Benchmark 78 race over 1600m, restricted to three and four-year-old fillies and mares.

“We want to go and if she works nicely and her blood is OK, we’ll be there,” Padman said.

“People go interstate all the time but the logistics of it are quite a bit and the costs big, so you want to make sure everything is right when you go.”

A four-year-old, Tipperary Lil has had seven starts, winning on two occasions and filling the quinella spot in her other five races.

Padman said the mare was “big and gangly” when she was being broken in so he sent her to the paddock to mature, meaning she missed most of her three-year-old year.

“She’s a Blevic mare that has taken a long time to mature,” Padman said.

“We had her broken in and then turned her out for 10 months and when we brought her back in she was a changed horse.

“She raced in April, had a win and two seconds from three starts and then went to the paddock again.

“She’s had four runs this time in and should be at the top of her game now, so we figured it’s worthwhile going to Melbourne for a shot at some better prize money.

“It’s off-season and hopefully they are not too strong.”

Padman has made seven or eight previous trips to Melbourne and tasted success with handy mares O’Deputy and Sudden Wonder at Flemington during the 1990s.

Article from justhorseracing.com.au