BATHURST trainer Dean Mirfin fondly remembers the day one of his runners, a mare called Mayez, beat a Bart Cummings trained hopeful at Tyers Park.
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Cummings had brought Think Amore to Bathurst on January 20 last year in the hopes of picking up an easy win, but in the end had to settle for third. The field Mayez beat home also included Bjorn Baker’s Mirka.
But as happy as Mirfin was with that victory, he knows having big names of the training industry race their horses at Bathurst makes it tough for locals.
In Bathurst’s seven-race meeting at Tyers Park on Monday, Mirfin will take on multiple Group 1 winning trainers Baker, Gerald Ryan and Gai Waterhouse.
Mirfin has just 13 runners in his stables – a number which pales in comparison to the teams of Baker (124), Ryan (125) and Waterhouse (164), who trains in partnership with Adrian Bott.
"It's getting tougher isn't it? We are getting Sydney trainers starting to come out more and more often, especially to Bathurst,” he said.
"Gerald Ryan has been doing it for a while now, so it is no surprise to see him bringing horses out here, but to see Gai Waterhouse is a bit of a surprise and it probably won't be long until Chris Waller comes too.”
While having big name metropolitan trainers head to Tyers Park is a reflection of their confidence in the racing surface at Bathurst and creates good hype for the club, Mirfin can see the flip side.
"It's not easy for bush trainers to go up against Sydney horses, so maybe they need to put a penalty on those Sydney horses ... maybe something like a kilogram penalty,” he said.
"A bulk of the trainers do come from country areas, so to make sure it's viable for the industry, they have got to look out for those bush trainers. You might get some of the smaller trainers drop out if they have to run against Sydney horses all the time.
"If they are going to see bush trainers survive in the industry, then they have got to do something to help them out.
"It's not all doom and gloom, they increased the prize money which is good for country trainers, but that has also attracted the Sydney trainers.
“It means you need a better quality horses to win out here now, the horses that were winning at Bathurst five years ago wouldn't win today. But you have still got to be positive about it, trainers have just got to be more resilient.”
The success of Mayez proves that winning is not a given when metropolitan trainers venture to tracks like Bathurst’s, but it does make it tougher on local hopefuls.
Monday’s seven-race meeting at Tyers Park will start at 2.05pm.