Racing
Cairns Tuesday: Rowe with Cleveland Bay aims
Veteran trainer Trevor Rowe is hoping the holy grail of north Queenland racing - the Cleveland Bay Handicap - is finally within reach of his stable star Smart Image.
Smart Image will be on trial for the Cleveland Bay Handicap at Townsville in August when he steps out in the Open Handicap on his home track in Cairns on Tuesday.
The Open Handicap will be run at weight-for-age over 1250 metres.
Rowe, who trains in partnership with son Peter, has had a handful of starters but has never won the Cleveland Bay.
However, Smart Missile is firing this campaign having won his only two starts this preparation at Innisfail in April and Cairns on June 9.
The rising eight-year-old recorded his 15th win in 46 starts in his last appearance when he downed the Alwyn Bailey-trained Overlord in a 950-metre dash around Cannon Park.
It was a strong performance against Overlord who had won five of his previous six starts.
"It was a very dominant win against Overland and he was given one hit with the whip and was then ridden hands and heels by Aiden Holt," Rowe said.
Rowe was in two minds whether to start Smart Image with 66.5kgs at Cairns until he experimented with a heavy saddle in a Townsville barrier trial.
"I bought an exercise saddle which weighs 7kgs just before the trial which he won when Aiden Holt rode him," he said.
"With Aiden's weight he would have carried 70.5kgs in the trial so I spoke to his owner and decided to run him that day in Cairns."
Rowe expects Smart Image will again be hard to beat under the weight-for-age scale and will press on towards the Cleveland Bay Handicap if successful.
"If he races well the plan is to go to the Mackay Newmarket then the Cleveland Bay," Rowe said.
"He drops 7.5kgs under the weight-for-age scale on Tuesday so he should be hard to beat."
Smart Image has had two previous attempts to claim the Cleveland Bay but missed a place on both occasions.
He ran eighth in his first attempt behind Isis Carmella in 2023 before finishing fourth in last year's sprint behind the Tom Button-trained Northern Pride.
Rowe has won a host of country feature races during his long career including a Cairns Newmarket and Cairns Amateur Cup in 2016.
Smart Image is raced by former disability worker Cliff Little who has interests in a number of other horses including the Rex Lipp-trained Cifrado.
Little's life changed forever the night he won $40 million on a $26 lotto ticket.
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