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By Ray Hickson

To jockey Tim Clark, the task ahead of him and Lady Of Camelot to bring an end to Lady Shenandoah’s winning run isn’t an insurmountable one.

Jockey Tim Clark (Pic: Grant Guy).

The two classy fillies have met twice this preparation and last year’s Golden Slipper winner has come off second best but, when they meet for a third time in the Group 1 $1m Coolmore Classic (1500m) at Rosehill on Saturday, Clark is confident there’s still more to give.

It speaks volumes about the faith he has in Lady Of Camelot.

“They’re both outstanding fillies, I know my filly is going terrific,’’ he said.

“She’s trained right on. She doesn’t seem to have taken any harm and if anything she’s come on again.

“She’s just really resilient, typical of Gai and Adrian’s horses, she’s thriving on those tough runs and she’ll be hard to beat again.”

Lady Of Camelot, $7 with TAB on Friday, was beaten 1-1/4 lengths by Lady Shenandoah in the Light Fingers Stakes (1200m) then reduced the margin to a short neck in the Group 1 Surround Stakes (1400m) two weeks ago.

Clark is adamant that last result is more illustrative of the gap between the two fillies and it could come down to which gets the better run on Saturday.

As it happens Clark has drawn directly to James McDonald’s outside and that makes the tactical battle between the two even more intriguing.

“It’ll be interesting to see where Lady Shenandoah goes but we’ve got to concentrate on ours and try and get her into the best position early and go from there,’’ he said.

“They’re two very good fillies, they came away and showed their dominance the other day but unfortunately Lady Shenandoah got the upper hand on us in the Surround.

“Hopefully we can turn the tables this weekend.

“She was very brave. Just drawing outside of James allowed him to have the trail on me, I think if you reverse the runs I think you change the result.

“That’s in the past now but that goes to show there’s not much between them.”

If you want to throw the history book at both fillies then if either win it’ll be rewritten.

The last filly to win was Typhoon Tracy in 2009, only one horse has jumped from a double figure barrier since 2010 to win (Daysee Doom had 14 in 2018) and more specifically to Lady Of Camelot the last Slipper winner to win at three was Bounding Away in 1987.

Clark regards Vauban, a new addition to the Waterhouse/Bott stable, as one of the more interesting runners at Rosehill on Saturday as he kicks off in the Group 3 $350,000 Asahi Super Dry Sky High Stakes (2000m).

The import has raced twice in Australia, for unplaced efforts in the past two Melbourne Cups.

“He’s a high class horse and he’s pleased with everything he’s done at home,’’ he said.

“He’s shown good signs and his trials are good. He has had a tendency to lose his way a little bit at the races so they’ve done a lot of work with him to get him used to the race day experience.

“Hopefully he can hold it together and we see a really good performance from him.”

Lady Of Camelot runs second in the Surround Stakes

Vauban has trialled twice for Clark, he’s had an exhibition gallop and he’s been taken to the races a number of times to help him get accustomed to his new surrounds and handle race day better than he has previously.

Tim Clark on Ducasse (race 9): “He’s returned well as a gelding, he draws well on Saturday and on the limit are positives for him. The low gate is vital for him going up to this grade, he’s come through his run good. I rode him on Tuesday and he feels great so he goes to the races in good order.”

All the fields, form and replays for Saturday’s meeting at Rosehill