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By Ray Hickson

Tim Clark knows what to expect when he’s legged aboard a Tulloch Lodge youngster and says debutant Mayfair only needs to handle the heavy ground to be a major player at Randwick on Saturday.

Jockey Tim Clark (Pic: Steve Hart).

The $625,000 colt is a late comer to what’s been another stellar two-year-old season from the Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott stable and on the back of two trial wins Clark is confident Mayfair is ready to race.

With the scratching of early favourite I Found You on Thursday, Mayfair was $3.30 second elect for the Petaluma Handicap (1100m).

“He’s taken that little bit longer than a few of the others but they’ve given him the time, he’s had that education and a good fitness base and it wouldn’t surprise me if he came out and won well,’’ Clark said.

“He’s a really nice colt to do anything with and has been very straightforward thus far.

“The track is an unknown so if he handles the track he will be hard to beat. If he doesn’t handle the track it’s going to be hard no matter how good he is but they all have to go through it.”

Mayfair trialled back in February and didn’t appear again until successive trial wins at Randwick on May 31 and June 14.

In both trials the colt has sat outside the leader and needed some encouragement from Clark to finish the job late but he says that’s all part of the learning process.

“He’s been pushed out in both trials, he just felt like he was a bit unsure when he got to the front in those trials,’’ Clark said.

“It felt like he had a bit more to offer but he didn’t quite know how to put them away. So in both trials he was asked to go to the line so he knows what to do when it comes to race day.

“His work since his latest trial has been really solid so he goes to the races in good order and ready to go.”

Clark has won 37 races for the Waterhouse/Bott stable this season so far, the stable has won 32 two-year-old races, including the Golden Slipper, which is five shy of last season’s haul with the rest of the month remaining in 2023/24.

Two rides for two thirds is Clark’s record on Matthew Dale’s honest mare Molly Nails and he’s hoping to enhance those stats in the Racing For Good On July 13 Handicap (1100m).

The six-year-old was placed behind Iron Man at Canterbury last month at her second run since January so Clark feels she should be close to her peak fitness level now.

“She sprinted like she was going to win the other day, don’t know if the wheels just spun a bit on that track,’’ he said.

“She’s racing consistently and is not too far off another win. She’s had two good runs this time back and she appears to be building nicely into her prep.”

It’s been eight years since Clark’s lone win in the Listed $200,000 James Squire Winter Stakes (1400m), with Oxford Poet, and given the heavy ground he feels he might be on a good chance with Highlights backing up from his win last weekend.

Mayfair wins a Randwick trial on June 14

The Bjorn Baker-trained galloper narrowly won a 1500m Benchmark 88 under 57kg and drops 3kg for the jump to stakes company.

“He was tough there last week, he’s a horse that rolls his sleeves up and has a dig every time he goes out,’’ he said.

“That seven day back up is going to work in his favour on a testing track. It’s a rise in class for him but with the lighter weight it’s a good set up for him.”

All the fields, form and replays for Saturday's Randwick meeting