The trainer Matthew Smith is confident that greater achievements await talented mare Idle Flyer post her dominant display in the Group 2 $300,000 Emancipation Stakes (1500m) at Rosehill Gardens this Saturday.
“Idel Flyer is a big mare and was only second-up today,” Smith said.
“She had a little setback earlier in his preparation which just held us up a bit but she is fine now.”There’s more improvement come from her and she will be at her peak in two weeks.”
Idle Flyer has been entered by Smith into the Group 1 $1 million Queen of the Turf Stakes (1600m) at Royal Randwick during Day Two of The Championships on April 11, and her Rosehill run positions her as a leading mare for the prestigious contest.
Backed in to $1.90 favourite status, Idle Flyer prolonged Zac Lloyd’s hot streak in the Golden Slipper carnival with a explosive finishing burst that reeled in Blindedbythelight ($26) by three-quarters of a length, while Firestorm ($19) was a further length adrift in third.
Lloyd, who claimed a treble the week before encompassing the Golden Slipper victory on Guest House, rode three winners at Rosehill on Saturday, notably the Group 1 Vinery Stud Stakes on Belle Cheval. He was at his peak aboard Idle Flyer.
“I was worried at the 500m, she just dropped the bit,” Lloyd said.”But she was in a very tight position the whole race, horses aren’t the happiest in that position.
“I knew had a lapful of horse and she was just starting to go through her gears. I just needed the horse in front of me to quicken another 25 metres and just allow that horse on the outside to drop off.
“For her to still quicken through there, find a gap and be strong late is a real credit to her.”
On Idle Flyer, Lloyd again left Billy Egan, Blindedbythelight’s jockey, in the runner-up position for consecutive races.
In the race immediately before, Lloyd withstood a protest to secure the Vinery Stakes on Belle Cheval from Egan on After Summer.
“When I got outside Billy I said ‘you must hate me today,'” Lloyd said after his win on Idle Flyer.
Bred from Arrowfield Stud’s premier sire Dundeel, Idle Flyer fetched $70,000 when acquired by Smith at the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale. The Emancipation Stakes provided her seventh career win in 14 attempts, elevating her earnings above $570,000.
“It’s great to have a good horse like her in the stable,” Smith said. “She’s an outstanding mare, you just don’t get them like this very often.
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