Miss Ezmae prepared for world's richest distance race

The Raymond Smith trained dog has set her sights on the world's richest staying race - The Ladbrokes 715 and run at Ladbrokes Gardens in Newcastle after qualifying last weekend.

Miss Ezmae raced off in her qualifying heat last Saturday where she posted a stellar time of 41.73 seconds over the 715 metre race - the second fastest time out of all of the qualifying dogs.

Her time was only outpaced by the Dave Irwin trained Oh Oh Range who finished in his heat with a time of 41.42 seconds.

Raymond Smith said Miss Ezmae has recently come back from a spell, with last weekend's heat her second race since she came back.

Smith said she has had a reasonably short preparation time and is hopeful that she can peak on the night of the Ladbrokes 715.

She has drawn box one in the race, which Smith said is a decent draw for Miss Ezmae as she likes to hug the rails.

Smith said he is hoping for Miss Ezmae to get in front of Oh Oh Range, who posted the fastest heat time, to put him off.

While he has plenty of potential, Smith said, he is a younger dog and may be put off if he is caught up in the pack.

Miss Ezmae will be joined by Oh Oh Range, Jarick Bale, Line of Quality, Sound of Silence, Drako Bale, Gypsy Wyong, Cawbourne Magic, Collinda Lady and Aston Velvet in this Saturday's final.

Smith said that the race could be indicative of a State of Origin between Victorian and NSW trained dogs taking to the course.

While a win would be fantastic, Smith said he would be pleased if he beat the Victorians on the track.

It is expected to be a relatively close race with the heat times posted by the dogs within a second of each other, but anything can happen on the day, Smith said.

With the race fast approaching, Smith is considering Miss Ezmae's racing career, saying the time for her to hang up her racing boots may not be too far off, though he has not made a definitive decision yet.

The full fields had not been released before the Advocate went to print.

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