Clarry Conners has made his name as a master educator of young racehorses but the veteran trainer had to acknowledge the input of the jockey after Look To The Stars’ first win on Wednesday.
Conners, who has trained four Golden Slipper winners and is rarely without an above-average two-year-old, confessed Look To The Stars had tested his skill more than once before breaking through at Warwick Farm.
But while he experimented with gear changes, ultimately it was Blake Shinn who made a difference in the Schweppes Handicap (1200m).
“I’ve had a few problems with this filly, she does a few things wrong and when I was able to get Blake (to ride) I was delighted because he’s got good hands,” Conners said.
“She has a rubber bit on because she’s very soft in the mouth and she’s got a cross-over nose band on to get her to relax.
“She relaxed beautifully today and after they went 100 metres I was pretty confident she was going to reel them in at the finish, but halfway down the straight I didn’t think she was going to get there.”
Before a Lonhro Plate failure which Conners put down to the filly being on the wrong part of the racetrack, Look To The Stars had shown enough promise in two city placings.
Yet her reluctance to be a proper racehorse prompted Conners to delve into a bag of training tricks accumulated from a lifetime of winning races.
Well backed as a $7 chance, Look To The Stars came from midfield and made a late surge to get the better of the leaders before holding off Petrossian ($4.40) for a half-length win.
Conners wants a slice of the autumn carnival action without being too ambitious and will consider running Look To The Stars in a Golden Slipper qualifying race.
“I might even back her up on Saturday week (in the Magic Night) the week before the Slipper and see what happens,” Conners said.
“Winning a race like that would be nice but even if you are in one of those races and you can run a place you get a bit of black type and that’s what it’s all about.”
