Smith confident in Tuvalu in Winter Championship Series Final

Tuvalu takes an enviable six wins from 10 starts into the $200,000 Winter Championship Series Final at Flemington on Saturday, and jockey Jarrod Fry has three victories aboard from five of those.

It is no wonder, then, that trainer Lindsey Smith is confident that combination can go well again over 1600m in the Listed feature.

And it is also why Fry is happy to drive two hours just to ride the four-year-old – who is the $3 favourite with Playup – in trackwork.

“He (Jarrod Fry) is a positive rider and I like my horses to be positive. Some of them get back, but most of them I like to be in the firing line,” Smith told horsebetting.com.au.

“And that’s his natural way of riding, so we’ve had a good association.

“He comes down and rides some work at Warrnambool from Ballarat, so he puts in the hours.”

Asked about his gelding’s excellent record – Tuvalu has not finished below second yet – Smith praised both his skill and determination while under pressure.

“He’s got a good cruising speed and he’s always got a great will to win, so that takes him a long way,” he said of his versatile runner with over $298,000 in prizemoney.

Smith said he was pleased with Tuvalu’s last start – a half-length victory in the $130,000 The David Bourke (1630m) at Flemington on June 18.

“He seems to have come through his last run in good order, and that horse (runner-up Visinari) gave him a good run for his money,” he said, with the Flemington track currently rated a Soft 6.

“We’re probably lucky he’s not in the race. And with a drying track he (Tuvalu) might be better on top of the ground, actually.
“If it dries out it will suit him. He’s in good order.

“He went to the line good with the other horses. They put 2.5 to three lengths on the third horse Sir Davy (paying $5.50 for Ciaron Maher and David Eustace). So it’s got to make up a bit of ground and turn the tables on me.

“We’re in good order and looking forward to it.”

Smith was not so confident about $21 starter Too Close To The Sun.

The six-year-old gelding won the Listed Idyllic Prince Stakes (1300m) at Belmont on August 28 last year, but finished last in his last start – the Brian Beattie Handicap (1420m) at Flemington on June 18.

“He’s got to improve a bit because his run was quite disappointing the other day. So we’ve just got our fingers crossed that he does improve a bit,” Smith said, his last start before then a fourth in the $1 million Kingston Town Classic at Ascot on December 4 last year.

“Not really (was he injured). He had a couple of preps at home in Perth where he wasn’t working well. So we got him out of the heavy sand and brought him over here.

“It was just that he wasn’t going well enough.”

Smith will also have Mystery Shot running in the Winter Championship Final. The five-year-old finished behind Visinari and Sir Davy in fourth sport in The David Bourke two weeks ago.

The gelding is $14 to win with top horse racing bookmakers.

After making a name for himself in Perth, Smith has enjoyed plenty of success at Warrnambool over the past three years.

“In three years we’ve been here we’ve had 100 winners each year,” he said.

“But it’s one of those capers – you’ve got to keep going, otherwise you get left behind.

“Darren Weir got time (four-year suspension) and I had some good horses that I had in his stable. I didn’t know who to give them to – I was going to give them to Paul Preuska.

“And then the owner said ‘why don’t you have a crack?’ I was going to give it 12 months to see if I survived, and I’m still here.

“I took over when his (Weir’s) stables at Warrnambool became available, so I took them and crossed my fingers.

“Some things fall your way. Scales Of Justice won a Group 1 and that pushed me up a little bit.”

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