Smart Vintage goes well for Rodd

Just ignore SMART VINTAGE's last run.

The six-year-old might have disappointed as a last-minute $17 favourite but he has a legitimate excuse - he was found to be lame near-fore after the race.

Before that, the Mohd Yusof-trained Australian-bred had run extremely well in his preceding four starts for two wins and a second.

Well, if you look up those runs, you would have noticed that he was ridden by jockey Michael Rodd, who will be back aboard. In his unplaced outing, Vlad Duric was in the saddle.

Last time out, Smart Vintage was ridden by Manoel Nunes and Rodd rode the runner-up in the same race, Gold Hill.

So, it's evident that Rodd goes well with the bay gelding. That's one of the best factors in horse-racing.

Their first partnership on Sept 25 last year yielded a come-from-behind three-quarter-length victory in Kranji Stakes D over the Polytrack 1,600m, which is tomorrow's surface and distance in Race 4.

The combination proved that the win was no fluke as they came from the rear again to win by half a length over the Poly 1,700m in Class 4 on Nov 11.

After his unplaced outing with Duric atop on Jan 6, Smart Vintage reunited with Rodd to finish second by one-and-a-quarter lengths behind Polytrack lover Mighty Kenny over 1,600m on Feb 3.

On Wednesday, Rodd took Smart Vintage out on the Polytrack and the horse breezed over 600m in a quick time and pulled up in great order.

Smart Vintage may have drawn the widest of 12 runners tomorrow but that does not matter as he will drop back anyway. He will rev up in the straight and probably be taken out for an unimpeded run to the winning post.

With nothing special in tomorrow's Class 4 field, he should come up on top for his third success in 22 starts for Smart Bet Stable, the owner of former champion galloper Smart Bet.