Trainer Chris Munce hopes Skate To Paris and Smartypy can transfer their impressive trial form to the racetrack at Doomben.
The mares are chasing black type in Saturday’s Listed Spirit of Boom Classic (1200m), the first of a series of feature races for fillies and mares during the summer carnival.
The two are big prices in markets but Munce feels they just need to run up to their trials and track work to take a hand in the finish.
Skate To Paris and Smartypy worked together on Tuesday and Munce was pleased with both mares.
The strong track work follows efforts in trials which were well above the average.
Munce believes Skate To Paris is long overdue for a black-type win.
“She has been stakes placed at two, three and four years. So surely she is due to win a black type race at five,” he said.
“She is such an honest horse. You can never under estimate her and she seems to have come back well.
“I have given her two trials and both were good. In her latest she was second to Outback Barbie and she came out since and demolished a Listed race.
“I know trials are different but it did show she us she is on the right track.”
Munce has given the ride on Skate to Pars to his apprentice Justin Huxtable.
The former South Australian apprentice combined with Munce to get his second Queensland win on Smart Meteor at Toowoomba on Wednesday.
“He has been working hard and deserves a ride in a stakes race,” Munce said.
Smartypy has had two runs since a break and been well beaten.
But she has also had two trials which impressed her trainer.
In the first trial she ran past multiple stakes winner I’m A Rippa to win while in the second she also finished well to be just over two lengths from the winner Doctor Zous.
“The trials are a better indication of how she is going than the races where both times she had no luck from bad barriers,” Munce said.
“These mares’ races in Brisbane have a history of upsets so I hope there is another one.”
Munce also had Smartypy in a benchmark race on Saturday but scratched to run in the stakes race.
Group One-winning jockey Larry Cassidy has been riding Smartypy in track work and was keen to retain the ride.
Article from JustHorseRacing.com.au