Experience counts for plenty in two-year-old events and that's why Lyle Chandler fancies Last Bid Liam's chances in Sunday's $200,000 Wellington Boot (1100m).
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No horse in the field for the feature event has had as many starts as Last Bid Liam but it's not only experience on the colt's side, it's the quality of his performances.
Chandler's hope heads to Wellington with two wins from five career starts.
The victories have come in his past two events, the most recent of those in the Wellington Boot Prelude at Coonamble on March 13.
The Coonamble event was his first start for Scone trainer Chandler after previously being in the care of Amanda Davis.
"It's obviously a famous race out west and it's nice to have a horse as precocious as him and I think he's in with a nice chance," Scone trainer Chandler said.
"He's very seasoned for a two-year-old and he takes everything in his stride and that goes a long way for a two-year-old.
"I've worked with a few nice two-year-olds and he's got the best constitution and he's robust. Mentally, he's like an older horse and that's very valuable going into Sunday."
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A win would not only be satisfying given the quality of the horse Chandler has, but it would also mark a major feature win for what is a relatively young stable.
Chandler is originally from South Africa and his partner, Emelie Larsson, hails from Sweden and the pair met while both working at high-profile stables in Sydney.
Chandler was previously foreman for the John O'Shea team but decided to make a go of it on his own, so he and Larsson made the move to set-up a stable at Scone.
That was roughly two years ago and while there's been plenty of success already - stable star Banju has won a number of Highway events - the couple do have a connection to the Boot.
"My partner Emelie, who rides Liam in trackwork, one of the first experiences in Australia she had was when she worked for Gai Waterhouse and she took a horse out to Wellington for the Boot," Chandler said.
"They always joked that because Emelie is from Sweden, she thought she was going out to the red centre. She'd only been used to Randwick, Coogee and Rosehill and maybe Newcastle was as far as she'd get from Sydney at the time.
"She really enjoyed that and it was a real adventure for her so the Boot is very much in our story in Australia. It would mean a lot to tick off a feature like that."
Apprentice Jackson Searle will again take the ride on Sunday after guiding Last Bid Liam to victory at Dubbo and Coonamble in his past two starts.
While gate 15 could be seen as a testing draw, Chandler said his colt has versatility and he'd be leaving the race approach up to Searle.
"I've got no doubt he'll improve a good couple of lengths from that (Coonamble) start and he'll be a lot fitter," Chandler added.
"Hopefully he'll be in with a good shout."
Last Bid Liam was an $8 chance for the Boot on Friday afternoon.
Deep Expectation from the Randwick stables of Peter Robl was a $3.90 favourite while Waterhouse-Bott galloper Sweet Baby Boom was at $4.60.
The Boot headlines a bumper day of showcase racing at Wellington and it will jump at 4.40pm.
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