Queanbeyan trainer Garry Clarke doesn't like coming to town if he doesn't stand a chance, so his record is quite good in Sydney.
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"Oh So Adorable has won two [in Sydney]; I had another that was beaten in a photo twice and another that also got just beat," Clarke said. "You can't go there unless you are confident, or else it is a waste of time. You have to go at the right time with the right horse."
It is not a bad record for a small stable run by a truck driver. Clarke actually doesn't know whether to call himself a trainer or a truck driver in a business owned by his father, who shares in the ownership of most of the horses in the stable.
"The horses take up a fair bit of time and it is what I like to do," Clarke said.
He will arrive for a rare Canterbury Saturday meeting with Oh So Adorable and Kaboombie Boy, both at double-figure quotes, but Clarke thinks the half sister and brother will acquit themselves well, with one proviso: it isn't too wet.
"They aren't as good on soft tracks," he said. "We want the rain to stop. I have got the whole family and they are all the same, they need a good track."
Oh So Adorable is coming off winning the Thunderbolt at Queanbeyan first-up and proved herself by winning at Warwick Farm last preparation.
"I set her for the Thunderbolt – it's the biggest sprint of the year here," Clarke said. "I put a four-kilogram claimer, Aaron Williams, on her and he did a great job and won fairly soft with her. There is a bit left for this race.
"She has a bit of weight, so we have claimed with Josh Cartright again, but she is going to be very competitive if the track is dry enough."
Earlier in the afternoon, Kaboombie Boy will run in the Highway Handicap at class 2 level for Clarke looking to get a bit family bragging rights.
They were lost at Queanbeyan last start when Clarke's cousin Aaron, who trains out of Braidwood, got the cash with Tony The Pony, where Kaboombie Boy was fifth.
"He just got caught out wide and never got in," Clarke said. "It was a very tough effort. I told Aaron after the race his horse won't be beating mine again.
"It is a good race to give this horse a shot in town and he has been racing well and down in the weights he is going to run a race."
Clarke's cousin Aaron confirmed that Garry had told him after Queanbeyan that Tony The Pony wouldn't be beating Kaboombie Boy again.
"He was a bit pissed off after that last race," Aaron Clarke said. "He gets another chance to try and beat us on Saturday. It is a good chance for him and if he wins it will double his prizemoney."
