Life on the Wire tipped to shine

PREMIER Tasmanian trainer Scott Brunton is confident his star four-year-old mare Life on the Wire will make her presence felt in a benchmark race for mares over 1200m at Caulfield today.

Life on the Wire notched two impressive wins at Sandown last preparation before returning home to take out the Group 3 Vamos Stakes over 1400m in Launceston.

She returned to Melbourne for an unplaced run in the Group 2 Sunline Stakes at Moonee Valley but she was at the end of a long preparation that showed at the business end of that race. But after a decent break the mare looks set for this latest assignment and she goes into it on the back of a very impressive trial win in Hobart in which she easily defeated top sprinter Tshahitsi over 800m in Hobart on a heavy 8 surface.

Brunton also nominated the mare for the $150,000 Sir John Monash Stakes (1100m) but he opted for the mares’ race in which she has drawn the inside barrier.

“Life on the Wire goes into this Caulfield race in good order and hopefully I’ve pulled the right rein by accepting for the mares’ race,” he said. “She’s got top weight of 60kg but I’ve lightened her load by booking talented apprentice Lachlan King who claims 3kg so she gets into this race with a handy weight.

“There are good raps on James Cummings’s horses [Rillito] which opened up a short-price favourite [$2.10], but I am more than happy with my mare’s condition and barrier draw and I’d be disappointed if she wasn’t very competitive.”

Life on the Wire opened at $8.50 but with two of the more fancied runners scratched, her price has tumbled to $7, though she could start a lot shorter. Brunton also has travelled his promising three-yearold Mandela Effect to tackle a 3YO handicap over 1400m but he received the visitor’s draw with gate 15 of 15.

Mandela Effect has won two of his three starts this time in and he has been very impressive on home soil.

“The barrier won’t help Mandela Effect but this is more of a learning curve for the horse and whatever he does in this race he will gain a lot of benefit,” Brunton said.

Life on the Wire is in race five while Mandela Effect will line up in race eight.