Trainer Mick Price is happy to stay in Melbourne with Ready For Victory and run him down the Flemington straight this Saturday in preparation for the Group 1 $1m BECK Caulfield Guineas (1600m) at Caulfield on October 10.
Ready For Victory will run in the Danehill Stakes down the Flemington staright. Photo by Adrienne Bicknell.
Price had the option of taking his smart colt Ready For Victory to Sydney to contest the Group 1 $1m De Bortoli Wines Golden Rose Stakes (1400m) at Rosehill but connections decided to run in the Group 2 $200,000 Danehill Stakes (1200m) at Flemington instead.
“Sun International (Owners) had a bit of a query on the Golden Rose, taking the horse up there running in the 1400 and then bringing him back,” Price told racing.com.
“The question was, would it impact on him in a preparation sense and I couldn’t really guarantee that it wasn’t going to impact on him.
“So they wanted to take the safer option and run him down the straight, which is fine. So we’ll run him there and then probably run him in the Prelude and the Caulfield Guineas.”
The Golden Rose Stakes has only attracted a small field of nine three year olds and no doubt if Price had sent Ready For Victory to Sydney he would have started as one of the top chances.
The John O’Shea trained Exosphere has been installed the early favourite for the Golden Rose Stakes and heads the Ladbrokes.com.au market order at $2.90 ahead of the Chris Waller trained Press Statement at $3.70 and Gai Waterhouse’s in-form filly Speak Fondly at $4.80.
Ready For Victory has already had a victory down the Flemington straight with a debut win in the Listed $120,000 Festival Of Racing 1000 (1000m) at Flemington on March 7 which did earn him a trip to Sydney to run in the Group 1 $3.5m Tooheys New Golden Slipper Stakes (1200m) at Rosehill on March 21.
The More Than Ready colt then ran a mighty race for fourth to Vancouver in the in the Golden Slipper Stakes before finishing seventh in the Group 1 $1m ATC Sires Produce Stakes (1400m) at Randwick on April 6.
Ready For Victory has had one run back as a three year old for an unlucky second to Gold Symphony in the Group 3 $150,000 H.D.F. McNeil Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield on August 29.
Trainer Peter Moody didn’t hesitate is sending Gold Symphony to Sydney for the Golden Rose Stakes and was quick to snap up the services of Tommy Berry who became available when Vancouver was also announced a non Golden Rose Stakes runner.
Golden Symphony has been marked as one of the outsiders in the small field at $17.
Price was happy with the way Ready For Victory performed at track work this morning and pointed out that the colt had the experience of winning down the Flemington straight, a good pointer for Saturday’s Danehill Stakes.
“He worked good here this morning, Damien ride him on the course proper and he’s ready to go,” the Caulfield trainer said.
“He’s won down the straight, it’ll be a good race and it might be a bit of a practice run for the Coolmore, you never know.”
“The Caulfield Guineas is one aim and three weeks later fresh in the Coolmore, but it’s a fairly stiff task. That’s what we’re thinking anyway.”
In early Caulfield Guineas markets with Ladbrokes.com.au, Ready For Victory is on the second line of betting at $5 behind Press Statement at $4.60 with Exosphere the third pick at $9.
