Robert Smerdon
ROBERT Smerdon has made the perfect start to the Warrnambool May Carnival today.
He landed a jumping treble.
Smerdon began with wins in two maiden hurdles and then had Fareer take out the $100,000 Brierly Steeplechase, 3450m.
And to keep the Ballarat flavour going, Darren Weir had a quinella in the first flat event on his way to a double and Andrew Payne landed the money with unbeaten Bachelor Royal.
Irish jockey Tom Ryan guided Fareer home ahead of Megapixel, with the Weir-trained Via Savoia third.
Odds-on favourite Brungle Cry saluted for Smerdon's Caulfield/Ballarat stable in the first maiden hurdle, 3200m.
Smerdon has a big opinion of the four-year-old.
He believes Brungle Cry can go on to be a "high class" jumper.
Smerdon said while Brungle Cry did get a little close to a few jumps, he was a safe jumper and it had been a good effort.
Leading jockey Steve Pateman gave Brungle Cry the run of the race, tucked away on the fence just off the pace before running away on the flat.
Kirribilli Gold then smashed her rivals, leading all the day with a dashing display.
Kirribilli Gold ran away by 10 lengths, giving jockey Steve Pateman a double.
Despite the big start, Smerdon will not be collecting the carnival's trainers' bonus, a Mercedes Benz, for the second time this year.
The prize has been on offer to any trainer who lands four winners, including one of the carnival's selected feature events — Warrnambool Cup, Wangoom Handicap, Galleywood Hurdle or Grand Annual Steeplechase - for more than a decade.
Smerdon's only starter in any of these features is Black and Bent in tomorrow's Galleywood Hurdle.
A condition of the bonus is that these races must have a minimum of 10 starters.
The Galleywood has only eight acceptors, making him ineligible.
Smerdon is the only trainer to have won the bonus, doing so two years ago when he dominated the three days.
Darren Weir's quinella was provided by first starter Zeditex and Eudoxia in a maiden, 1200m.
He later followed up with the smart Magnifique Soleil in the City of Warrnambool Handicap, 1700m.
The four-year-old is trained out of Weir's Warrnambool satelllite stable and has now won five six starts since returning from an injury-enforced lay-off.
Bachelor Royal is unbeaten for Andrew Payne in two starts after winning a class one, 1700m.
