Dream run after playing a hunch

EVERY owner dreams of that one special racehorse, and for Mick Duffield the dream is closing in on reality.

EVERY owner dreams of that one special racehorse, and for Mick Duffield the dream is closing in on reality.

Duffield owns the appropriately named Psychic Mick - with his great mate Dennis Bowden - after waking on the morning of last year's Adelaide Yearling Sales with the thought, "You must buy Lot 118".

That's precisely what he did, although trainer Daniel Clarken says Duffield wasn't guaranteed to put his hand in his pocket.

"I don't think Mick has had too many of these dreams so he wasn't going to buy the horse if it only had three legs," Clarken said.

"As it was, he was a nice athletic type, so then it was all a matter of the price.

"I thought he'd go for as much as $25,000 but Mick got him for $10,000 with only the one bid."

The two-year-old son of sprinter/miler Shinzig is unbeaten in two starts, and really grabbed attention with an all-the-way victory at Morphettville a fortnight back.

Clarken's apprentice Lauren Stojakovic took the mount and the pair belied a betting drift to win by nearly three lengths.

The duo will look to keep their unbeaten record intact over the 1000m at Morphettville Parks on Saturday.

Clarken, who only has eight in training, has been looking for a headline act since Dynamic Hero retired last year. The Bellotto gelding won 10 races for the Clarken camp, including two Tokyo City Cups, and almost $250,000 in stakes.

"I'm like a lot of Adelaide trainers in that we are all fishing in the same barrel when it comes to owners," the trainer said. "There are not that many around and a good horse can really raise your profile."

Clarken isn't underestimating Saturday's field that includes likely type Little Critter for premiership leading trainer Tony McEvoy, and last start Gawler winner Indubious for Mark Kavanagh.

First starters Beyond Infinity and Deni Flyer, for David Hayes and Andrew Noblett respectively, both dominated recent trials in Victoria.

"If he comes through this we'll look for a suitable race in Melbourne as he's VOBIS qualified," Clarken added. "Sending him to the paddock is also an option as I think he'll measure up to the good spring races."