Robert Smerdon described Theanswermyfriend as the perfect horse to train after his win in Saturday's Listed The Sofitel (1400m) at Flemington.
"He eats, he works, he sleeps and he can gallop," Smerdon said after Theanswermyfriend ($3.20) led for the last half of the race to defeat Mr Sneaky ($3.50 fav) by 1 3/4-lengths.
"He's got a high cruising speed and horses like him get a lot of horses outside their comfort zone."
Despite being by High Chaparral, Smerdon feels Theanswermyfriend is best at shorter distances.
"He gives you the impression he can go further but he might just be a specialist at today's distance (1400m)," Smerdon said.
"He can dominate a race over 1400 metres and I think he did that today.
"I'd like to think this horse can step up to a race like the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes - he needed to win a race like this today to get his rating up and give him a chance of getting into a Group I race like that.
"He'll improve a bit from today, his coat is coming right and he copes with the racing."
Theanswermyfriend jumped straight to the front from an outside alley and was never headed. A nice ride by @CWilliamsJockey. #RacingLivepic.twitter.com/YIfoGEeDzZ
— Racing.com (@Racing) September 16, 2017
