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By Ray Hickson

Super filly Tempted might not be the headline act at Randwick on Saturday but jockey Chad Schofield won’t hear of her doing anything but standing out.

Jockey Chad Schofield (Pic: Bradley Photos).

The TAB Everest runner-up secured her Group 1 in the Surround Stakes some six weeks ago and Schofield said she’s freshened up nicely for the Group 2 $1 million Arrowfield Sprint (1200m).

Trainer Ciaron Maher elected to keep the filly racing against her own age this carnival, she wouldn’t have been out of place in last week’s TJ Smith, and Schofield is pleased he did as suspension would have likely cost him the ride.

“I was very grateful and appreciative to get the ride on her first-up and maintain the ride in the Surround where we got the job done again,’’ Schofield said.

“She’s had a lovely little tickover trial recently and she feels like she’s freshened up really well after that win.

“It’s a perfect race for her, she’s a filly so she gets 54.5kg against her own age group.

“I think it did stretch her a little bit (in the Surround), she had to dig deep there, but she feels tremendous. I can’t wait to get back on her, she’s a pretty special filly.”

Tempted, $1.70 with TAB on Tuesday, has proven to be dynamic when fresh at 1200m – the Run To The Rose last spring and the Light Fingers at the start of this campaign are prime examples.

Schofield said the 1400m is a different beast to a 1200m race, especially as far as the Godolphin filly is concerned, but it was her quality that saw her through in the Group 1.

“If you’d have paused the race at the 350m and asked me how I was going I would have said I’m going to win by five lengths,’’ he said.

“That’s how she cruised up into the race. We had to dig into her reserves but typical of a very good horse she dug deep and got the job done.

“She’s bombproof to ride, she puts herself wherever the jockey wants her, she relaxes there, and through the 400m she finds three or four lengths while still building on the bridle.

“It’s a trait not many horses have. When you do fully send her the race is over. She’s got a tremendous turn of foot.”

Just as he was in the Surround, and given her profile and race record to date, Schofield is aware he’s going to be a marked man in the Arrowfield but is happy to back his filly’s talent every day of the week.

“They rode the race to bring me undone but I trusted my filly that day and we were too good,’’ he said.

“I’ve got full confidence in the horse and they’ve got to beat us.”

Schofield is itching to see what Screen Icon can do from an inside barrier in the Group 2 $1 million Percy Sykes Stakes (1200m).

Her trainer John Thompson had rolled the dice to get a Slipper run but after a narrow defeat in the Sweet Embrace Stakes she was left as an emergency.

"She’s a very underrated filly, in none of her runs to date she’s drawn a barrier,'' Schofield said.

"If she can get a nice economical run, which she’s never really had, she’s going to be right in the finish.

"I galloped her on the course proper on Saturday, she’s had a nice gap between runs and she’s been set for this race."

Among his other rides is the Phillip Stokes trained Regal Award in the Listed $200,000 South Pacific Classic (1400m).

Tempted wins the Surround Stakes

The gelding finished midfield in the Darby Munro at his Sydney debut and Schofield said as much as his quirks have started to settle down he's his own worst enemy.

"He’s a very talented horse, if he had as many brain cells as he does ability he’s be a topliner,'' he said.

"He’s his own worst enemy, he does everything wrong, he’s difficult to manage.

"I think he’s on the right track, I have a lot of belief in him and if he can execute relatively well he’s more than good enough to win a race like that."

All the fields, form and replays for Day 2 of The Championships at Randwick on Saturday