3 minute read

Trainer John Ramsey has been patient with lightly raced mare Extra Smart but he’s quietly confident she can live up to her name when she resumes at Muswellbrook on Sunday.

The four-year-old has only raced three times and John Ramsey thought enough of her as a young horse to send her to Peter Moody to train and she kicked off her career with two starts in Victoria.

Whether it was racing on the synthetic track that didn't agree with her or other factors, Extra Smart showed she has talent with a dominant maiden win at Scone in December on her return to Ramsey and the Upper Hunter Ride Share Handicap (1000m) will be her first start since.

"I educated her here as a two-year-old and sent her down, she hadn't performed down there in a couple of starts and Moody sent her back. Perhaps she just wanted to come home,'' Ramsey said.

"She ended up with a stone bruise so we put her in the paddock and let her get over it.

"She won a trial well as a two-year-old for me, she had another little injury but it's probably been a blessing in disguise she's been able to mature."

Ramsey has a healthy opinion of the mare and said he wouldn't be afraid to look for a Highway in Sydney for Extra Smart sooner rather than later if she can pick up where she left off.

In the Scone victory she settled just off the pace and once into the clear showed a sharp turn of foot and cruised to a 1-1/2 length win over the 1000m, and Ramsey is looking for something similar on the back of a strong Muswellbrook trial win.

"She's going well and she trialled good the other day,'' he said.

"She's relaxed a bit more than last prep. She'll come out and get cover, be two or three back, hopefully she'll do the same as the first start for me.

"I might just go straight for the jugular, it depends on how she goes. I always had a big opinion of her so I wouldn't be worried about taking them on in town."

Be Alive is another horse that has come full circle and returned to Ramsey who sends her around in the Pirtek Muswellbrook Plate (1280m).

She trialled for him back in February last year before heading to Edward O'Rourke and in her first start for Ramsey proved to be quite green in a close third over 1000m at Gunnedah on May 2.

He said Sunday's race will likely be too short for her but is expecting a gear change to make a difference.

"She just ran away from the horses so I changed a bit of gear, put the winkers on her to try and make her concentrate a bit,'' he said.

"We trialled her in them and she won it so hopefully she relaxes.

"It's a strong maiden but it's just down the road. She wants 1500m or a mile so as long as she's hitting the line I'll be happy."