ROBERT Smerdon will head to New South Wales on Thursday with his unbeaten two-year-old Calcatta, with the trainer hoping success in the Magic Millions Wyong Classic will guarantee the filly a start in the $2 million classic next month on the Gold Coast, reports The Age. Smerdon has never had a Magic Millions Classic starter, but should Calcatta finish in the top two in the $200,000 race at Wyong it will seal her entry. ''She has done everything right since her only start at Moonee Valley recentl
ROBERT Smerdon will head to New South Wales on Thursday with his unbeaten two-year-old Calcatta, with the trainer hoping success in the Magic Millions Wyong Classic will guarantee the filly a start in the $2 million classic next month on the Gold Coast, reports The Age.
Smerdon has never had a Magic Millions Classic starter, but should Calcatta finish in the top two in the $200,000 race at Wyong it will seal her entry.
''She has done everything right since her only start at Moonee Valley recently and the money on offer on the Gold Coast is so good that you have got to work through a program that will get her into the field,'' Smerdon said.
Dwayne Dunn will ride the youngster. Costing $65,000 at last year's Magic Millions sale, Calcatta is raced by a group of expatriate Australians based in Hong Kong.
''They have had a bit of luck with me as the first horse they had was Tai Tai Tess who has given them a lot of fun and she will also go to Queensland for another race on the Magic Millions program.
''But Thursday will not be easy as there will be a lot of trainers also looking at the race and thinking this is a good passageway into the classic. But she is a very nice filly who is well worth sending north.'' (theage.com.au)