Trainer Noel Mayfield-Smith remains hopeful that Famous Seamus can record an upset win in the 2014 Darley Classic at Flemington tomorrow.
Famous Seamus is one of several Group 1 winners that will contest the 2014 Darley Classic at Flemington on Saturday. Photo by: Steve Hart
Famous Seamus started his spring preparation with a fast-finishing third behind Terravista in the Group 2 The Shorts (1100m) at Royal Randwick on September 20 and took out the Group 2 Premiere Stakes (1200m) at the same venue on October 4 before he was narrowly denied a second win at Group 1 level in the Manikato Stakes (1200m) at Moonee Valley on October 24.
Mayfield-Smith told Racing Ahead this morning that Famous Seamus had come through his brave performance in the Manikato Stakes in excellent condition and said that he is thrilled with the Elusive City gelding heading into the 2014 Darley Classic.
“He has come through it extremely well and we just go to the next one now,” Mayfield-Smith said.
“I have kept him ticking over, gave him a little bit of a sharpen up when he needed it and that’s all.
“His body weight and everything is very good.
“It is a very good field and you would expect that when you run for that sort of prizemoney.
“There are some good sprinters getting around at the moment.
“I’m as confident as I can be with respect to the horses that are in it.”
There has been plenty of talk about tactics heading into the Darley Classic this weekend, but Mayfield-Smith revealed that he is not too concerned about the way that the Group 1 event will be run at Flemington this weekend.
Famous Seamus has generally produced his best performances when settled off the speed in the early stages of his races and Mayfield-Smith said that he expects jockey Tim Clark to ride the six-year-old quietly in the early stages of the Darley Classic.
“We don’t really have to worry about too much because the other horses will roll along and we will just travel like we normally do and try to finish on over the top of them,” Mayfield-Smith said.
“That is how he goes best and we have plenty of time to work out where we want to because he will sit back off them a little bit.”
Famous Seamus is currently available at 2014 Darley Classic odds of $21 and is one of the outsiders of the field along with Temple Of Boom ($51), Moment Of Change ($31), Sidestep ($21), Cluster ($31), Driefontein ($21) and Platelet ($31).
