Trainer Tony Svilicich employs crazy car chase method for his horse Mysta Magical Mach has gotten fit for the Inter Dominion by being chased by trainer Tony Svilicich's car in a paddock. Photo: Bill Crabb Source: PerthNow TONY Svilicich's method of preparing Mysta Magical Mach for Sunday's Inter Dominion final at Menangle is far from orthodox but strangely logical. There is no such thing as trackwork or trials in the mind of the Croatian migrant, instead he has a paddock, a car and a trained eye. Svilicich has been in Australia for 47 years - 30 of those involved in the sport of harness racing. He was once like almost every trainer, rising early and spending hours conditioning his horses with constant jogging around a track. But now he just sees himself as efficient and everyone else is doing it the hard way. "It doesn't matter how you get them fit as long as you do it," he said. There is no such thing as a traditional way of training, everyone does it differently. I can do it anyway I like, the object is to get the horse fit, it doesn't matter how you do it. I can train three or four different ways: I can swim only, I can jog, I can do trackwork or I can chase them in the paddock - that is the method I like, chasing them in the paddock. Yes, that is right, Svilicich trains Mysta Magical Mach behind the wheel of his car from his Byford property, on the south-east edge of Perth. The horses love it, there is no cart, they have no gear, they have no weight on their back, they are just free. You need a big enough paddock, you can't do it in a small paddock," he said. I've got five paddocks with two horses in each. They (paddocks) would be about as big as a 700m track. I drive around for a couple of minutes and they get fit. I can train my 10 horses in about 20 minutes, it gives me more time to enjoy myself, more time to sit and watch TV. I've been training a long time, too long actually, and that's why I have changed. I needed to find an easier way, I would get up at 3am in the morning, now I just sit in the car, it is much easier, why do it the hard way? Not everyone can do it because you need big paddocks. Fortunately I've got 30 acres. In 20 minutes I'm all finished. They go for three minutes, two horses at a time. I go from paddock to paddock in the car. I have a fence in between. It is the easy way, it is very good. Svilicich only turns the ignition one day a week, believing his horses keep themselves fit by walking back and forth in the paddock. "Horses keep themselves fit anyway, they walk around the paddock, they eat the grass and walk, if you put their water at one end of the paddock and food at other end, they walk between and do it themselves," he said. Everyone else does it wrong, my way is normal. Everyone should train like I do. It is natural for the horses, why would you spend 30 minutes on a horse when you can do it in five? You can only do it with horses that are racing. If we are talking about younger horses you can't, you need to educate them and jog them but once they know how to race they don't forget it. Svilicich's expertise comes from his ability to tell when a horse is fit, using his experienced eye to judge when they are ready to go from the paddock to the racetrack. "When you spend every minute of every day with someone it is hard to tell if they have lost weight or put on weight," he said. But if you spend time away from a family member and see them after a couple of months you can tell. It is a bit like that with horses, sometimes I don't see them for a day or two and they can change so much. The horse tells you when they are ready, you can tell when they look fit and happy. Mysta Magical Mach is certainly not a household name in Sydney and is rated an $81 chance with the TAB. And while Svilicich's theory on training will surprise most, his results suggest it works well for Mysta Magical Mach, considering he finished second in last year's Inter Dominion final to Im Themightyquinn and then qualified for Sunday's $750,000 race with another runner-up behind the second-favourite. "If my horse drew barrier one or two I would declare it but it is a different story from the barrier eight, he needs a bit of luck," Svilicich said. Given his unusual training style, it was not surprising that Svilicich elected to run Mysta Magical Mach in a $7000 race at Menangle on Tuesday when he could have trialled, like a number of other Inter Dominion hopefuls. "Why trial when he can race for prizemoney?" he said. It was a very, very good win, you don't go from barrier nine and run a quarter in 27.3 secs, sitting three and four wide unless you are a good horse, he was entitled to stop. My concern going in to Sunday is the 3000m, I'm not too sure whether the horse will run it strong from the barrier but to my eye he is very fit. Im Themightyquinn slipped to the second line of betting at $3.60 yesterday with Kiwi raider Terror To Love firming to favourite at $3.20. "Quinny has been the best backed runner with us today and it is no surprise after the way he worked at the Breakfast with the Stars," said TAB harness expert Adam Hamilton. The effort suggests to me that he is going to be very hard to beat on Sunday, Gary Hall is obviously very happy with the horse to let him stride up that quick. I think it is hard to split the favourites but I would be leaning slightly towards him.