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By Ray Hickson

There’s a touch of anticipation from co-trainer Luke Price that lightly raced gelding Smashing Time can confirm his view that he is a horse on the rise at Randwick on Saturday.

Trainer Luke Price

Price already dipped the three-year-old’s toe in the deep end in his first preparation, and he showed a glimpse of his promise with a Group 2 fifth behind Broadsiding, and the Listed $200,000 Schweppes Brian Crowley Stakes (1200m) has always been his spring target.

Along with another three-year-old Island Dec, who was beaten 1.6 lengths in a Group 3 last weekend, he feels the future is bright for his and father Robert’s Kembla stable.

“He’s definitely above average, he’s as good as we’ve had for a while,’’ Pride said.

“Him and the filly, but they’ve still got to step up and put the runs on the board.

“We could easily back off after Saturday because there’s the Magic Millions coming up.”

Smashing Time faces just five rivals in the Brian Crowley, he was $3.10 with TAB on Thursday, on the back of a tough first-up win on his home track that Price says did him a world of good.

He carried 59.5kg against older horses in a Class 1 over 1200m and had to chase down the tearaway leader, and eventual runner-up, Sunrise to win - he ran 32.57 (Punter's Intelligence) for his last 600m as he swallowed her up late.

“He’s been in work a while and he’s taken a while to come up but he’s doing everything well now,’’ he said.

“It worked in well with a trial on the Friday at Kembla then a week later into that race which looked an ideal race to kick off in.

“He had a good bit of weight on his back, first-up off one trial.

“He’s taken improvement and we’ll get a bit of a guide where we sit in the three-year-olds, albeit probably the B group. But there’s still a couple there with some pretty good form.”

Price wouldn’t expect Saturday’s race to be as frenetically run as the first-up assignment but at the same time he wants Smashing Time to be within striking range.

“He’ll be in the first four I’d say, I won’t be instructing Tommy (Berry) to drag him back,’’ he said.

“Keep him comfortable and I’m sure he’ll be very strong late.”

The stable has two acceptors in the Midway Handicap (1200m) in Monte Supreme and All Machiavellian but Price said it could be the latter stays home to resume on his home track.

Monte Supreme drops 6kg on her second-up fourth a week ago, where she raced wide and kept coming to be beaten just over a length, and while drawn wide again he said she’ll be hard to beat if the race is truly run.

“She was really good the other day at Hawkesbury,’’ he said.

“She promises enough, her temperament lets her down barrier manner wise. She’ll run from the outside gate and she will be running extremely well.

Anderson Bridge runs second at Warwick Farm on October 7

“I think she’s a great hope getting to peak fitness on a track that will suit her, she just needs a bit of speed on up front and she’ll be strong late.”

All Machiavellian is being set for the Midway at next month’s The Gong meeting and Price said whatever he does first-up, be it at Randwick or Kembla, he’ll improve on it.

Meanwhile, Island Dec is likely to have one more run for the spring after her close up eighth in the Reginald Allen and that’s potentially on Big Dance Day at Randwick.

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