Blue Diamond Stakes winner Extreme Choice will be prepared for a first up assault in the Group 1 $500,000 City Jeep Moir Stakes (1000m) at Moonee Valley on September 30 when he returns to the race track as a three year old.
Extreme Choice, above, is set to resume in the Moir Stakes at Moonee Valley. Photo by Ultimate Racing Photos.
The Mick Price trained Extreme Choice proved to be one of the stars of the 2015-2016 two year old crop when he brilliantly won the Group 1 $1.5m Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield on February 27.
The Not A Single Doubt colt was then sent out as the favourite for the Group 1 $3.5m Longines Golden Slipper (1200m) at Rosehill on March 19 but had no luck in running after missing the start and finished eighth to the Peter and Paul Snowden trained Capitalist.
Extreme Choice was mentioned in the stewards’ on several occasions and after beginning awkwardly ran into trouble almost immediately and had to be checked.
Then at the 1000m mark jockey Craig Newitt was in trouble again when the colt was forced onto the running rail and lost ground again and then had to be steadied at the 600m and at the 200m as well.
“He was a neck slow and then got pressure from the outside in and the inside out, which had him on the wrong leg for the first half of the race,” Price said.
“The whole race was just a disaster.”
Price immediately sent Extreme Choice to the paddock and the top Caulfield trainer is very pleased with the way the colt spelled and will tune him up to tackle the older horses in the weight for age 1000m Moir Stakes.
“I think he looks fantastic and he looks as though he’s made the transition from being a running, slight two-year-old to a grown-up, robust three-year-old which is a transition that he had to make,” Price told racing.com.
“He had a good spell after the Golden Slipper and I’ve got plenty of time to get ready for the Moir.”
The Group 1 $500,000 Coolmore Stud Stakes (1200m) for the three year olds at Flemington on the first day of the four day Melbourne Cup Carnival is also on Extreme Choice’s Spring Carnival program.
Extreme Choice has won just over $1.3 million in prizemoney from his three wins from four starts and as well as winning the Blue Diamond Stakes, was successful in his first two outings in the $500,000 Inglis Nursery (1000m) at Randwick and in the Group 3 $150,000 Chairman’s Stakes (1000m) at Caulfield.
