Tom Smith is hoping his lightly raced four-year-old I Am Clever can make it back-to-back wins at Rockhampton on Thursday, after a dominant victory on January 20.
Having only recently been acquired by the stable, the son of Sebring has been a model of consistency, winning once and placing on four occasions in his seven runs for the young trainer.
Previously trained by Billy Healy on the Sunshine Coast, the gelding was purchased for just $6,600 in late September and has already proved to be a money-spinner for connections, amassing over $22,000 in prizemoney from seven runs with Smith.
“His work has actually continued to improve throughout the prep,” the trainer told HorseBetting.
“He’s still only a four-year-old and he hasn’t had a lot of starts, so he’s still learning a lot.
“I think there’s still a bit more to come from him yet.
“I think he’s still got a couple of wins left in him; we didn’t pay a lot for him, so he’s a nice horse that we can continue to have a bit of fun with and as we go along, we’ll find out where he’s at.
“He’s still got a lot of learning and a lot of improvement left in him.”
Given a lack of tactical gate speed, I Am Clever regularly assumes the role of back-marker, but in Thursday’s seven-horse field, Smith is hoping that his runner can settle a little bit closer, even from the outside alley.
The horse has been partnered by Chris Whiteley in his past three starts, but with that jockey already booked to ride Graeme Green’s Kotabharu, one of Queensland’s leading hoops, Justin Stanley, will take over the reigns on I Am Clever.
“There’s not a lot of speed in it, but in saying that, he doesn’t show any early speed anyway,” Smith said.
“He came from last the other day, so we’ll probably ride him sort of similar to that.
“A couple of races before that, he was in front of a couple, so if he can get in front of one or two, it would be nice, and he’ll definitely fight out the finish.”
I Am Clever will be Smith’s only runner at Thursday’s Callaghan Park meeting, although he is looking forward to what the next few months will entail as he looks to debut last year’s Capricornia Yearling Sale top lot.
Purchased for $67,500, the colt by Heroic Valour will trial on Friday before being aimed towards the Capricornia Yearling Sale 2YO Classic on April 9.
“He’s coming along nicely – we’ve had a few little problems with him, but we’ve worked him out now,” Smith said.
“We’ll trial him on Friday, but he’s on the path towards the sales race, with another couple of two-year-olds here that are headed that way.
“They’re coming along nice.”
Smith will be hoping his mare Natural Emperor can repeat the dose in the Capricornia Yearling Sale 3&4YO Classic as a four-year-old, after taking out the race in 2021 under Tom’s sister, Elyce.
“She comes back into work on Friday, and she’ll have the same sort of plan towards that 3 & 4YO Classic again,” he said.
Smith’s gallopers have won two of their past 10 starts, with a further five runner-up performances over the past six weeks.
