Cairns Returns to Happy Hunting Ground for Shot at Classic

Few trainers can boast victory in all three of Cluden Park’s biggest races – the 2YO Classic, Cleveland Bay Hcp and the Cup.

Olivia Cairns, the one-time ‘Queen of Cluden’, joined that elite list in the early 2000s before moving south to set up stables at Beaudesert.

A decade on, Cairns is making a rare return to the city to chase another big race success in the $100,000 2YO Classic, to be run on June 6, with the promising Maganista and I’lltellyouanytime.

Maganista will have her final Classic hit-out at Cluden on Monday in the Belle Property 2YO Hcp (1200m) while I’lltellyouanytime was engaged in Mackay on Saturday.

Cairns believes both fillies have the right profile for the Classic, a race she won in 2005 with Sea Zulu when the race was known as the Parry Nissan Great Northern.

Sea Zulu, bred and raced by Jeff Davis, went on to win back-to-back Cleveland Bays for Cairns in 2006-07, to add to her victory in the 2003 Townsville Cup with Forest Pride for owner Graham Wheeler.

Cairns is confident I’lltellyouanytime and Maganista are both genuine Classic contenders and the latter can run a big race on Monday in her first look at Cluden.

Maganista, by Pierata, is still a maiden but has been placed at Rockhampton, Sunshine Coast and Ipswich in her six career starts.

“Maganista has been here a week and she’s just come good in the past few days. As long as she travels up alright and performs up to what I think she can do, I think she’s a strong chance,” Cairns said from her northern base in Mackay.

“Her last two runs have been on very average tracks at the Sunshine Coast and she’s not a fan of the wet.

“She’s pretty well performed apart from her last two and probably should have won at her first three runs. She’s just had no luck.

“But she’s a suitable horse for that sort of race up there. I think she’s probably not as tough as the other filly (I’lltellyouanytime), but she’ll certainly relish the 1200m.”

Cairns, whose success as a jockey was abruptly ended by a serious race fall at Cluden in the early 1990s, made a remarkable transition to the training ranks later that decade.

After establishing herself as one of the most astute trainers in the north, she moved back to her city of birth, Mackay, for a few years before relocating permanently to the south-east.

With a team of around 17 in work, Cairns has trained a steady stream of winners from her Beaudesert property in an increasingly competitive south-east scene.

“I’ve got no champions but we hold our own with the stock that we’ve got,” Cairns said.

“It’s a completely different ball game down there compared to up in the north where you race the same horses every week and know their form.

“Down there, every meeting you go to it’s a whole new story and obviously a lot harder as well.

“We had a couple of stable moves when we first went down and things didn’t go overly well at the beginning.

“But I’ve secured a really nice property now with great facilities at Beaudesert.

“It’s a beautiful property and I was quite lucky to get it.

“We’ve bought five acres just on the edge of Beaudesert and eventually I’ll build stables there.”

An initial decision to send a few stable runners north led to hitting the road to tackle the Classic.

“A couple I sent up to Mackay originally were struggling to get runs down there and we had a bit of success with them. I saw an opportunity to go from there. I’ve brought a few more up this time mainly for the 2YO Classic and the big three-year-old race here in Mackay on the 11th and then I’ll probably head home.”

Monday’s seven-event card kicks off at 1.10pm.