The Group 1 $1m BECK Caulfield Guineas (1600m) at Caulfield on Saturday is not a one horse race say rival trainers, even though the bookies have locally trained Rich Enuff the short priced favourite.
Rich Enuff is the short priced favourite for the Caulfield Guineas at Caulfield. Photo by Race Horse Photos Australia.
The Ken Keys trained Rich Enuff is a deserved $2.45 favourite with Ladbrokes.com.au after stringing together three consecutive wins but rival interstate trainers aren’t conceding and will go to Caulfield full of confidence to knock off the hot pot.
Peter and Paul Snowden will saddle up Shooting To Win ($7) who is coming to Caulfield after a runaway win in the Group 2 $200,000 Stan Fox Stakes (1500m) at Rosehill on September 27 and are keen to take on Rich Enuff.
Peter Snowden admits that Rich Enuff has the form on the board after wins in the Group 2 $200,000 Danehill Stakes (1200m) at Flemington on September 13 and the Group 3 $175,000 BECK Caulfield Guineas Prelude (1400m) at Caulfield on September 28, but he was quick to say that the Sydney form is strong as well.
“The Guineas is going to be a very tough race,’’ Peter Snowden told the Herald Sun.
“Rich Enuff looks the real deal, he seems to have the wood on everything in Melbourne, he’s been super impressive and winning by margins.
“But the Sydney form (Golden Rose) is very strong and Almalad franked that form winning at Moonee Valley (Stutt Stakes).’’
Paul Snowden has been supervising Shooting To Win at Flemington in the lead to Saturday’s contest and couldn’t be happier with the Northern Meteor colt.
“Paul is in Melbourne with Shooting To Win and he said the colt got onto the right leg and never changed stride during the gallop,’’ Snowden said.
“James McDonald was very happy with the work.
“He’s going to 1600m for the first time but we are very confident he will run it right out.’’
Rich Enuff will also have the advantage of racing and winning at Caulfield while Shooting To Win will be having his first look at the tricky circuit.
Snowden resisted the temptation to travel to Caulfield for an early morning gallop on Tuesday and was content for Shooting To Win to have his final hit out at Flemington where he is based in Melbourne.
“He would have worked in the dark and very wide out on the course proper,’’ Snowden said.
“I didn’t feel there was much to gain going all the way over to Caulfield.
“We were able to give him a strong gallop in the Melbourne direction at Flemington.’’
The ever confident Gai Waterhouse is certainly not writing off the chances of her three year old Almalad ($7.50) who already has two wins over the 1600m.
The Al Maher colt took out the Group 1 $500,000 Tatts Group J.J. Atkins (1600m) at Eagle Farm during the Brisbane Winter Carnival and at his most recent start scored a one and three quarter lengths win in the Group 2 $200,000 Jeep Stutt Stakes (1600m) at Moonee Valley on September 26.
“He will show everyone how good he is,” Waterhouse said.
Queensland trained Looks Like The Cat ($5.50) has finished in the runners up stall behind Rich Enuff at his two Spring Carnival starts but the Tony Gollan trained three year old will be in the mix again in the Caulfield Guineas on Saturday.
Looks Like The Cat’s part-owner Troy Schmidt also admits that Rich Enuff is the one to beat but is giving his colt a real chance of turning the tables on the Written Tycoon colt.
“Rich Enuff is a very good horse and potentially he might be a freak and he might be unbeatable but we will certainly give it our best shot on Saturday,” Schmidt said.
“We certainly haven’t seen the best of Looks Like The Cat and hopefully he is still on his merry way forward.”
