Trainer Mick Mair has a warning for connections of Oakleigh Plate winner Swiss Ace's rivals if they think his tough autumn campaign might harm the defence of his Sir Byrne Hart Stakes title at Eagle Farm.It was just over 12 months ago when four-year-old Swiss Ace burst into winter carnival prominence with four wins from five starts before claiming the Listed Weetwood Handicap (1300m) at Toowoomba last April.The entire then made a successful step up in grade to win last year's Sir Byrne Hart befo

Trainer Mick Mair has a warning for connections of Oakleigh Plate winner Swiss Ace's rivals if they think his tough autumn campaign might harm the defence of his Sir Byrne Hart Stakes title at Eagle Farm.

It was just over 12 months ago when four-year-old Swiss Ace burst into winter carnival prominence with four wins from five starts before claiming the Listed Weetwood Handicap (1300m) at Toowoomba last April.

The entire then made a successful step up in grade to win last year's Sir Byrne Hart before finishing third to Apache Cat in the Group One BTC Cup (1200m) at Doomben.

Jockey Ken Pope was the regular rider of Swiss Ace last winter but was replaced by Jason Taylor when injury forced the Caloundra rider to miss the Stradbroke Handicap (1400m) at Eagle Farm last June.

Swiss Ace finished 15th for Taylor in the Stradbroke after drawing a horror gate but it didn't stop Mair from taking him to Melbourne and Sydney during the autumn.

After failing in the Group One Lightning Handicap (1000m) at Flemington, Swiss Ace showed plenty of speed and determination to give Mair and Pope their first wins at the elite level in the Oakleigh Plate (1100m) at Caulfield in February.

Swiss Ace then put in another brave performance to go down narrowly to Perth sprinter Scenic Blast in the Group One Newmarket Handicap (1200m) at Flemington last month.

Swiss Ace returned to his Caloundra stables after his Melbourne campaign but it was not for long as Mair took him to Sydney where he finished fourth to Nicconi at his latest appearance in the Group One The Galaxy (1100m) at Randwick on April 11.

"The Galaxy wasn't in our original plan," Mair said.

"We wanted to run him in the TJ Smith later on but the tracks down there were too wet so we decided to run him in The Galaxy and see how the weather panned out after that.

"He ran a good race in the Galaxy on a dead track but it's a race for three-year-olds and it was actually wetter than we thought that day so I brought him home and gave the TJ Smith a miss," Mair said.

Mair said he was not worried by the travelling Swiss Ace has done in the past few months and won't use it as an excuse if he's beaten in the Sir Byrne Hart.

"He's holding his condition well and all the travelling hasn't bothered him," Mair said.

"He's fit and well and usually leads in his races but he doesn't have to."

Mair had cause for concern when Pope threw a scare into the camp on Tuesday when he had a fall in a barrier trial but he has declared his fitness for Saturday's feature.

Mair was reluctant to single out a danger to Swiss Ace in the Sir Byrne Hart before his Group One assignments in the BTC Cup and Doomben 10,000 (1350m) next month and the Stradbroke Handicap (1400m) at Eagle Farm in June.

"When you get to Group level they are all dangers and you have to respect them all," Mair said.