Trainer Matthew Smith believes the top form is still ahead for the skilled mare Idle Flyer following her strong victory in the Group 2 $300,000 Emancipation Stakes (1500m) at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday.
“Idel Flyer is a big mare and was only second-up today,” Smith said.
“She had a little setback earlier in his preparation which just held us up a bit but she is fine now.”There’s more improvement come from her and she will be at her peak in two weeks.”
Smith is aiming Idle Flyer at the Group 1 $1 million Queen of the Turf Stakes (1600m) at Royal Randwick on Day Two of The Championships, April 11, and her performance at Rosehill indicates she could be among the top challengers in the feature event.
Idle Flyer, who was heavily supported to become the $1.90 favourite, extended star jockey Zac Lloyd’s successful run during the Golden Slipper carnival by producing a powerful surge of speed to catch Blindedbythelight ($26) and prevail by three-quarters of a length, with Firestorm ($19) finishing just over a length back in third.
Lloyd, fresh off a treble the previous week that included the Golden Slipper aboard Guest House, notched up three more victories at Rosehill on Saturday, among them the Group 1 Vinery Stud Stakes on Belle Cheval. He delivered a masterful ride on Idle Flyer.
“I was worried at the 500m, she just dropped the bit,” Lloyd said.”But she was in a very tight position the whole race, horses aren’t the happiest in that position.
“I knew had a lapful of horse and she was just starting to go through her gears. I just needed the horse in front of me to quicken another 25 metres and just allow that horse on the outside to drop off.
“For her to still quicken through there, find a gap and be strong late is a real credit to her.”
Lloyd’s success on Idle Flyer marked the second straight occasion where he consigned Billy Egan, the rider of Blindedbythelight, to second place.
In the race before, Lloyd held off a protest to claim the Vinery Stakes on Belle Cheval ahead of Egan’s ride, After Summer.
“When I got outside Billy I said ‘you must hate me today,'” Lloyd said after his win on Idle Flyer.
Foaled by Arrowfield Stud’s leading sire Dundeel, Idle Flyer was bought by Smith for $70,000 during the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale. The Emancipation Stakes triumph represented her seventh win from 14 outings, boosting her earnings beyond $570,000.
“It’s great to have a good horse like her in the stable,” Smith said. “She’s an outstanding mare, you just don’t get them like this very often.
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