He might hold the classification of All Stars “third stringer” but there’s no way Smolda is just some johnny-come-lately.
Last year’s New Zealand Trotting Cup runner-up is flying under the radar so far in this build up to the second Tuesday in November as he chips away in the shadows of his high-class stablemates; Have Faith In Me and Lazarus.
But the man charged with steering the the Smolda ship this season says that no one should be prepared to let their guard down on the wonderful horse.
“He’s a great horse and you would leave him out at your own peril I think,” Tim Williams said.
The next phase in the Cup preparation comes tonight (Friday) at Addington in the Canterbury Classic and Williams is amped to get back behind Smolda and try to upset the apple cart.
While his stablemates were both in clear air and getting home stylishly in the New Brighton Cup a couple of weeks ago, Smolda was held up behind a wall of horses. And was fair travelling too.
When the gap finally did appear, the old boy grabbed the bit and charged – his final 75 metres equally as impressive as the efforts of his stablemates in many eyes.
“I never got the chance to pull the plugs, but when he got that little bit of room he really took off.
“It was probably not an idea situation first up, but we did get the run under the belt we needed.”
Williams has a little more inside knowledge on his two main rivals tonight than pretty much anyone else and he also has the added bonus of having driven both Lazarus and Have Faith In Me.
He won twice on Lazarus during his two-year-old season and was the initial driver of Have Faith In Me before Natalie Rasmussen took over late last season.
“They are both great horses, exceptional horses in fact. But I believe that if things can go my way that Smolda can beat them under the right circumstances.
“My fella has definitely come on with that run under his belt, he’s really improved off the back of it. But so have the other two as well so it’s going to be a big ask this week.”
The key to success will be a clean pair of heels from behind the barrier strand and there’s some confidence there that he can do it too.
“He just didn’t quite catch it the other night and missed it slightly.
“But when he gets on the right foot he will begin quickly and if he can do that this week well he’s going to be right in it.
“The good thing is that he can make his own luck if we need him too, so we are going to get a better line on where he is at after we get through this week.
“I’ll be happy if he’s finding the line again, that’s all I want.”
An $8.50 chance with bookmakers last night, there’s some tidy each way value on offer around Smolda this week.
Lazarus and Have Faith In Me are dominating the market, but both still have question marks over their stand start manners.
Matt Markham