It’s starting feel a little like last year all over again for David Smith.
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There wasn’t a huge amount of hype around the Mudgee trainer leading into the 2017 $150,000 Country Championships Central Districts Qualifier at Wellington.
But he proved he could get horses to peak when it mattered as Distinctive Look took out the event in eye-catching fashion.
This time Smith has two contenders preparing for the Qualifier, which will be contested at Mudgee on February 25.
Bel Diablo will have a final tune-up when he lines up at Bathurst on Monday while the lightly-raced Stilettoed Vixen showed she’s in form with a strong trial run at Randwick earlier this week.
“He (Bel Diablo) has had a nice freshen up since his Highway run at Randwick so it (Bathurst run) should top him off nicely and he should be going close to winning that. We’ll assess him after that,” Smith said after seeing Valknut win at Dubbo on Thursday.
“And Stilettoed Vixen, she’s going enormous. She’s only had one run for me and that was at Narromine, a benchmark 65 race, but she trialled against couple of Group horses there at Randwick on Monday and was only a length or so off them and was doing her best work so I’m really looking forward to next Sunday.
“I can’t wait to get there.”
Stilettoed Vixen was previously trained by Gerald Ryan but made the move to Mudgee midway through last year.
She debuted for Smith with a strong two-and-three-quarter length win at Narromine and in the Randwick trial she ran home well behind the Gai Waterhouse-trained Our Joyeaux and Gregory Hickman’s Pierata, who won a Group 3 event at Doomben last year.
Distinctive Look was a chance to race in the Qualifier again but pulled up sore after a recent trial at Narromine, leaving Smith “really, really gutted”.