Eye Keep Smiling. Photo by Club Menangle
Classy mare Eye Keep Smiling looks set to atone for last year’s narrow defeat in the Riverina Championships Mares Final when she heads back to Wagga to contest the race again on Saturday night.
The Luke McCarthy trained and driven Eye Keep Smiling was still a four-year-old and on the up when she contested last year's series, winning her heat before being edged out in the decider.
She has developed into one of the country's best mares in the 12 months since, winning 11 races in that time including a Group 1 victory in last year's Golden Girl in Brisbane.
The five-year-old took her record over the 2270m at Wagga to three wins and that close second from four starts when winning Tuesday's prelude.
On that night she came from the back row but worked around her rivals to take up the running before proving her dominance.
She looked to leave plenty in reserve for Saturday night and represents the clear class factor in the race.
She starts from the outside of the front row again so expect McCarthy to employ similar tactics and make a bid for the lead before too long.
If able to get to the front again she'll be very hard to get past.
Former star juvenile Lux Aeterna was an eye catcher behind Eye Keep Smiling on Tuesday.
Stepping out for the first time since last June, Lux Aeterna sat well back for most of the race but unleashed a strong sprint in the home straight to finish 7.4m astern.
That performance suggested she has come back in good order and if she can take closer order with that run under her belt she could make more of an impact.
Ever Art also performed well in Tuesday's prelude, working from a wide draw but sticking on well to split the above two mares.
That made it back-to-back seconds since a spell for last season's Redcliffe Oaks winner and she could be ready to hit her peak third-up.
The entires and geldings final looks a more open affair after some strong performances in Tuesday night's heats.
The well-performed Captain Hammerhead delivered as favourite in the opening heat, working forward from his back row draw to sit outside the leader before proving too strong.
It was his first win since toppling star pacer Swayzee in the Murray Cup at Albury in February and he does look the class performer of the race.
Nyack has emerged as a real challenger after an impressive performance in the other heat, sitting back in the field from his second row draw before unleashing a devastating sprint to beat last year's NSW Derby winner Soho Spectre.
The former Tasmanian had wide barriers when tackling Group 2 features over the Sydney autumn carnival but showed his ability with a hat-trick of wins at Menangle earlier in the year.
Timmy Rictor is the query of the race having gone into his heat as a hot favourite but he was off his game, breaking early and racing greenly before finishing fourth.
It was just his second defeat in nine starts and he had impressively won his other two appearances for Jason Grimson to follow a long stint on the sidelines.
A former Group 1-winning juvenile, Timmy Rictor had looked a potential big time open-class performer prior to Tuesday's defeat and if he turns up on Saturday in a better mood he could well bounce back to his best.
