Veteran Sydney trainer Clarry Conners is brimming with confidence heading towards Thursday’s 2012 Wyong Magic Millions Classic where he will give his untapped Charge Forward filly Assail her second career start.
The youngster debuted at her home track at Warwick Farm on November 10 and was able to get the better of her fellow two-year-old rivals by a minimum one length margin taking out the Fonterra Foodservice Handicap (1000m) in an eye-catching all-the-way win.
After a similarly successful 805m barrier trial win last Friday at the same track, Conners is confident Assail is ready to race again when she contests the lucrative $200,000 Wyong Magic Millions 2YO Classic (1100m) this week.
“She’s a nice filly, does everything right, very professional,” he said.
“We gave her a bit of a freshen-up after her first start, she had 10 days off and did well, put on a bit of weight and looks in really good order.”
While she hit the front and stayed there for her winning debut, Conners knows there’s more than just a one-set pace to this filly and that she had the ability to also sit off the speed and come from behind.
“She wasn’t supposed to lead that day but just had too much natural pace for them,” Conners said of her debut.
“But in her trial last Friday, I had Peter Robl hold her back so she would settle in behind them and finish it off which she did nicely.”
And Conners certainly is one of the authoritative voices when it comes to racing juveniles down under having prepared four Golden Slipper winners with Tierce (1991), Burst (1992), Prowl (1998) and Belle Du Jour (2000), as well as a Magic Millions champ with Mirror Mirror (2006).
Assail is one of 13 Magic Millions graduates engaged for the Wyong Magic Millions Classic this year and is one of four going into the race with a previous win on their record.
Other winners in the mix are the David Payne-trained Regimental Pride who has come up trumps with barrier one and sure to start the top fancy after the More Than Ready colt won the Rosehill Gardens Handicap on Saturday, and the Gai Waterhouse-trained Not A Single Doubt filly Certitude (barrier three) and Robert Smerdon’s daughter of Tale Of The Cat Calcatta (barrier 12) who are the equal $14 third favourites for next month’s $2 million Gold Coast Magic Millions 2YO Classic (1200m).
A key lead-up to the January 12 feature in Queensland, the Wyong MM Classic result is sure to impact the futures betting markets on the summer’s richest race.
Assail meanwhile is only rated a $26 chance in the latest Magic Millions 2YO Classic odds for January, a price that will firm dramatically if she is to upstage her rivals on Thursday.
Like the bookies and punters, Conners will use the Wyong Magic Millions race as a guide to whether Assail will need another run before going to the big one at the Gold Coast.
“I’m not sure if she will have another lead-up race before the Gold Coast,” he said.
“There are races in Sydney on the 29th and the fifth which are options but I’ll just wait and see how she goes on Thursday.”
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