Robert Smerdon made a clean sweep of the three jumps events on the first day of the Warrnambool racing carnival when Fareer won the Brierly Steeplechase.
Smerdon combined on Tuesday with Irish jumps jockey Tom Ryan who has ridden in two English Grand Nationals at Aintree.
“He’s got a pretty good CV,” Smerdon said of Ryan, who landed his biggest Australian win in last year’s Grand National Hurdle aboard Man Of Class.
Earlier, Smerdon combined with Steven Pateman to win the two divisions of the maiden hurdle (3200m) with four-year-old Brungle Cry and six-year-old grey mare Kirribilli Gold.
But even if Smerdon wins Wednesday’s Galleywood Hurdle with star jumper Black And Bent he will not be eligible to win a trainers’ bonus, a luxury motor car, because there are only eight runners in the race.
The Caulfield trainer’s only feature race runner over the three days is Black And Bent but there have to be 10 runners in the race for Smerdon to be eligible for the bonus.
Smerdon came away with the trainers’ bonus two years ago, the same year he won his first Brierly with Some Are Bent while Black And Bent took out the Galleywood.
Sharing in the victory spoils was Ryan, 27, a former champion apprentice in Ireland who first came to Australia in 2006 representing the Irish team in the jumps series between the two countries.
“I always said if I got the chance I would come back,” he said.
He said he decided to settle in Australia due to the downturn in the Ireland economy. He works for the Russell Cameron stable at Flemington.
Australia’s leading jumps rider Steve Pateman, who rides trackwork and in races for Smerdon, was instrumental in Ryan getting the mount on Fareer.
Pateman could have ridden the winner in the $100,000 event over 19 fences and 3450m, but elected to ride Megapixel who was runner-up.
“He made my job easy the way he travelled and jumped,” Ryan said.
The only runner in the 12-horse field to fail to complete the course was Phaze Action who fell at the third last fence.
Ryan will ride Pentacolo in the Grand Annual.
