Idle Flyer building towards Queen of the Turf Stakes target

Matthew Smith, the trainer, insists that superior performances remain ahead for the capable mare Idle Flyer after her commanding success in Saturday's Group 2 $300,000 Emancipation Stakes (1500m) held at Rosehill Gardens.

"Idel Flyer is a big mare and was only second-up today,'' Smith said.

"She had a little setback earlier in his preparation which just held us up a bit but she is fine now."There's more improvement come from her and she will be at her peak in two weeks.''

The trainer has nominated Idle Flyer for the Group 1 $1 million Queen of the Turf Stakes (1600m) on Day Two of The Championships at Royal Randwick, April 11, with her latest Rosehill showing suggesting she will be a serious contender among the mares.

Strongly favoured at $1.90, Idle Flyer kept up jockey Zac Lloyd's impressive Golden Slipper carnival form by unleashing a devastating turn of foot to overhaul Blindedbythelight ($26), scoring by three-quarters of a length as Firestorm ($19) trailed by just over a length for third.

Having secured a treble last week featuring the Golden Slipper on Guest House, Lloyd added three wins at Rosehill on Saturday, including the Group 1 Vinery Stud Stakes astride Belle Cheval. His ride on Idle Flyer was exemplary.

"I was worried at the 500m, she just dropped the bit,'' Lloyd said."But she was in a very tight position the whole race, horses aren't the happiest in that position.

"I knew had a lapful of horse and she was just starting to go through her gears. I just needed the horse in front of me to quicken another 25 metres and just allow that horse on the outside to drop off.

"For her to still quicken through there, find a gap and be strong late is a real credit to her.''

By winning on Idle Flyer, Lloyd ensured Billy Egan, aboard Blindedbythelight, finished second for the second race running.

Prior to that, in the preceding event, Lloyd fended off a protest to take the Vinery Stakes with Belle Cheval over Egan's After Summer.

"When I got outside Billy I said 'you must hate me today,'" Lloyd said after his win on Idle Flyer.

A filly by champion Arrowfield Stud stallion Dundeel, Idle Flyer cost Smith $70,000 at the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale. Her victory in the Emancipation Stakes was the seventh from 14 starts, pushing her stakes past $570,000.

"It's great to have a good horse like her in the stable,'' Smith said. "She's an outstanding mare, you just don't get them like this very often.

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