Lankan Rupee. Terravista. Chautauqua.
They are ranked the three best sprinters in the world and they will go head-to-head in Sydney for the first time at Randwick on Saturday.
The trio clash in the $2.5 million TJ Smith Stakes, the sprinting championship of The Championships.
Terravista had the other pair’s measure in the Darley Classic last spring but Chautauqua was first home behind Brazen Beau in the Newmarket Handicap last start.
Chautauqua is a slight TJ Smith favourite ahead of Terravista and Lankan Rupee but opinion is split.
Even Terravista’s usually bullish trainer Joe Pride is approaching the race with a measure of respect for the horse’s arch rivals.
“It’s going to be a ripper of a race,” Pride said.
“You can only be so confident going into a Group One but I’m rapt with my horse. We’re on our home turf now and he loves the sting out of the track.
“If he can run up to what he did in the spring he’s going to be very hard to beat.”
Chautauqua has finished second at his two starts in Group One company and jockey Tommy Berry believes it is a matter of time before he wins one.
Lankan Rupee is formidable at his best but there is a query over him after he tore a muscle in his chest during the Newmarket.
It’s a complaint which appears to have healed, although trainer Mick Price admits they won’t know that for certain until Lankan Rupee is put under race pressure.
If there is to be an upset, Pride thinks it could come from Terravista’s older half-brother Tiger Tees.
The Group One winner didn’t stretch out on a firm track first-up and will relish the rain-affected ground at Randwick.
But it is Tiger Tee’s desire to be top dog at home which Pride says could push him to produce a career-best performance.
“He likes to knock off his stablemates. He’s claimed Rain Affair a few times and he seems to take particular enjoyment in it,” he said.
“I reckon he has almost never been beaten by another Pride runner so it will be interesting to see if he can uphold that.”
GROUP ONE TJ SMITH STAKES
* Named in honour of Randwick’s most famous trainer ,the late Tommy Smith whose daughter Gai Waterhouse won the race with Phoenix Park in 2002, Shamekha in 2005 and Bentley Biscuit in 2007
* First run in 1997 when won by Mahogany
* Elevated to Group One status in 2005
* Black Caviar’s victory in 2013 was her final racetrack appearance
* The unbeaten mare also holds the race record of 1:08.71 set in 2011
