Hugh Bowman on Clearly Innocent will be out to do a Jim Cassidy in Saturday's Stradbroke Handicap at Doomben, the major Queensland race in which local greats have failed to leave their mark.
Cassidy, superb when it came to overcoming outside gates, scored on Rough Habit, probably the best horse to triumph in the group 1 sprint in recent decades at Eagle Farm.
With Cassidy astride, Rough Habit, coarse to the eye anywhere but the winning post where he had a magnetic attraction, launched from barrier 18 in 1992 under 58.5 kilograms to down a dazzler, Schillaci, for his second win in the event.
Of course queries arise about Clearly Innocent not only concerning gate, 15 if the reserves come out, and weight, but also the switch in venues to Doomben due to the tortured turf at Eagle Farm.
Following the maximum handicap rise from 55.5kg to 57kg, Clearly Innocent comes into the range of topweights being burdened out of the Stradbroke, a fate emphasised by Buffering, one of the best Queenslanders, dimmed by saddle bags over the 1400 metre sprint.
Better performed than Clearly Innocent, Buffering was second in 2013 carrying 58kg.
Over the past 30 years 19 sprinters have been allocated 57kg or more in the Stradbroke for only two successes. Apart from Rough Habit, Campaign King won over the cut and he was very good, indeed.
Surprisingly many local greats haven't contested the Stradbroke. Bernborough, in the quinella with Phar Lap as Australia's best champion, missed the Eagle Farm feature because the ruling body, the Queensland Turf Club, wouldn't accept his nomination over doubts regarding the validity of his owners.
No doubt the 1400m at Eagle Farm would have been within the distance range for the Goondawindi grey Gunsynd had trainer Tommy Smith targeted the race but preferred Doncasters, Epsoms, the Cox Plate, the Caulfield and Melbourne cups.
Maybe Vo Rogue, the front-running flyer produced by a truly Queensland team of eccentric trainer Vic Rail, owner Jeff Perry and jockey Cyril Small, would have been effective in the Stradbroke, but richer pickings were sought in the south.
Perry was in the winning list at Warwick on May 27 with Fusi Fox, ridden by the still riding young Small, now 57, who also scored on McGill at Murwillumbah last Sunday, a far cry from this week's Doomben group 1 extravaganza.
Punters should be wary of the form for the two other group 1s on the outstanding program – the J.J. Atkins and Queensland Derby – because of the changing track conditions, but not regarding Clearly Innocent.
Scone reared but now with Kris Lees at Broadmeadow, Clearly Innocent bolted in over the Eagle Farm 1300 metres on May 27, dubbed as flattering because of the under-hoof conditions.
Still the gelding is an improving five-year-old with only 15 races and has obviously made a comfortable transition to Lees from Scone's Greg Bennett, who went on to greener Queensland pastures.
"A lot of trainers wanted Clearly Innocent, but he simply had to go to the right place," Bennett told Racenet.
"I am so glad he has gone to Kris because he would not have fitted in well at a hustle-and-bustle city stable where he just would have been a number."
But the key to Clearly Innocent on Saturday hinges on Bowman. Stats indicate 12 winners have come from the Doomben 15 in 124 attempts, so the barrier isn't a massive hurdle.
Bowman also made the point that when he was beaten on Buffering in the Stradbroke, the gelding was more of a 1200m horse. No concerns on this score for Clearly Innocent. Should the anticipated rain arrive in Brisbane it will be another plus for Clearly Innocent.
Clearly Innocent on top with the main dangers In Her Time, outsider Hopfgarten, a likely improver, and Ulmann ready to peak at his third start after a spell.
Hopfgarten, prepared by Buffering's trainer Rob Heathcote, was a victim of the Eagle Farm surface last start, but has notched three out of five over Saturday's course and distance.