Trainer Mick Price expects his brilliant two year old Extreme Choice to win the Group 3 $150,000 Chairman’s Stakes (1000m) at Caulfield on Saturday.
Trainer Mick Price expects Extreme Choice to win the Chairman’s Stakes at Caulfield. Photo by Steve Hart.
Price said that there will be no excuses if Extreme Choice gets beaten and fully expects him to line up as one of the top chances in the Group 1 $1.5m Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield three weeks later.
“Extreme Choice is a fast horse over 1000m at this point, not to say the Blue Diamond he can’t win it and run out the 1200m strongly,” Price told Racing Ahead.
“I have no excuses, the horse can win on Saturday and I would be disappointed if he doesn’t.”
“1000m around here on is home track, he needs to step up, go to the line and win and go into the Blue Diamond.”
Sydney jockey Glyn Schofield rode Extreme Choice when he scored at his only race start in the $500,000 Inglis Nursery (1000m) at Randwick on December 12, but Damien Oliver takes over on Saturday to test the colt as Blue Diamond Stakes mount.
Price also has another smart youngster in Flying Artie heading towards the Blue Diamond Stakes and Oliver will test him out in the Group 3 $200,000 Blue Diamond Prelude (C&G) (1100m) at Caulfield the following Saturday before declaring his hand.
“Damien rode him (Extreme Choice) in a trial here (Caulfield), he just gave him a cosy little trial, that’s all the horse needed,” Price said.
“He worked on the course proper here (Caulfield), he worked fantastic.”
“So it will be interesting to see which way Damien goes,”
“At this stage he is going to ride Extreme Choice on Saturday and then Flying Artie the following Saturday and have his pick then.”
“I am thinking Glyn Schofield will want him to pick the Flying Artie way so he can get back on Extreme Choice.”
Price is happy with the way that Extreme Choice handled the trip to Sydney and back to his Caulfield stable and added that he had matured and is a more seasoned two year old for the experience.
“It was a busy time for him to go to Sydney and trial and race. A trip away and all that sort of stuff,” Price said.
“He had eighteen days off after that trip. He did really well, mentally he improved, he is really switched on and I think he is a better horse.”
“I think he is more seasoned, a more professional two year old leading in.”
Extreme Choice currently heads the market order for the Blue Diamond Stakes at $6 with Ladbrokes.com.au while Flying Artie is also in contention at $10.
The John O’ Shea trained Calliope is the second pick in the betting at $8 just ahead of Team Snowden’s colt Defcon at $9.
Other two year olds in the Blue Diamond Stakes mix are Cohesion, Weatherly, Sword Of Light and Zamzam at $15 , Hell Of An Effort, Concealer and Miss Nymeria at $17 and El Venetian, Emphatically and Power Trip at $21.
