By Chris Roots
Warwick Farm trainer Matthew Smith has an eye towards The Championships with Faraway Town when she takes on the boys in the Sandown Guineas on Saturday.
Faraway Town, already a group 1 placegetter from the Sires Produce Stakes and was also fourth in the Champagne Stakes, has only had a short spring campaign but Smith believes she gets to a suitable trip on Saturday.
Guineas hope: Faraway Town.Credit: bradleyphotos.com.au
The Not Single A Doubt filly carries form around Yankee Rose, Prized Icon and Divine Prophet, all of which have already won group 1s as three-year-olds. Smith said Ben Melham will be asked to be positive from the gates on Faraway Town in the Guineas.
"She did a lot of racing as a two-year-old and you look at the form and it has all stood up," Smith said. "She is just going like she wants a mile and longer and on the big track at Sandown I think we have found a great race for her.
"I wanted her to have a short Spring and this is a good test for her because I think she could develop into an Oaks filly in the autumn."
Faraway Town won the $300,000 Magic Millions ladies bonus when sixth behind Capitalist in the Magic Millions Classic but Smith has now ruled out a return to the Gold Coast in January after she finished ninth at Flemington during the Cup carnival.
"Even though she ran third to Spright in the Brian Crowley [Stakes] first-up I feel she is not sharp enough to take on those type of horses over the shorter trips," Smith said.
"She is a really relaxed filly with a touch of class and I've always been confident she was going to get a trip, so I'm very happy to get her to the mile.
"She is working great in Melbourne and it would be nice to put a group 2 in her win column."
Smith is also mindful of what happened to Faraway Town in the Champagne Stakes when devising his tactics for Saturday.
"We have been going back on her in her races but there doesn't appear to be that much speed in the race on Saturday and I would prefer to ride her forward and put her in the race," Smith said.
"You need to be decisive in what you are going to do because in the Champagne she just got caught in no man's land and just sat there and it definitely cost her finishing closer.
"We went to this meeting with Combat Kitty after she won at Flemington a couple of years ago and she got back and never got her chance in slowly-run race, so in the small field I think it's better to be forward rather than back."
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