Bill Smart mare Silent Surround can book a ticket to Caulfield if successful …

A campaign in Victoria hinges on Silent Surround’s performance in tomorrow’s Balaklava Cup.
Source: The Advertiser




BILL Smart is thinking big with his talented mare Silent Surround, but she has to perform in tomorrow’s The Advertiser Newspaper’s Balaklava Cup (1600m).


The Oakbank horseman believes the Face Value six-year-old is going even better than last year when she finished third in the Listed event and has even thrown in a nomination for the Caulfield Cup.

“You don’t get many horses that are in form and can have a crack at a race like that, so I thought we’ll have a go,” Smart said.

“If she wins the Balak Cup – that qualifies her – and if she ran a place in the Naturalism she’d get a penalty and that would give her a chance to get into the field.

“If we don’t go that way, then we’ll probably go to the Matriarch at the end of the Flemington carnival. I reckon that’s her race. But we’ll have a crack at the Caulfield Cup and see how far we get.”

Smart has freshened Silent Surround up after a dominant win at Morphettville in July.

“I think she’s in great form, she certainly hasn’t got any problems and I think she’s just about as well as she could be,” he said.

Silent Surround has to carry 55kg for tomorrow’s $80,000 event, with Adelaide Cup-winning jockey Shayne Cahill steering her from barrier three.

A full field of 16, plus two emergencies, means she might need a little luck to find some clear running.

“She’s drawn inside, which makes it a little interesting, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of speed in the race, so she might even end up a little bit closer and then edge out,” Smart said.