Retirement An Option For Palentino After Blamey Stakes Win

Palentino maintained his excellent record over the mile at Flemington to score an outstanding victory in the 2017 Blamey Stakes at Flemington this afternoon.

It was Tosen Stardom that went into the Blamey Stakes as a dominant favourite and the Japanese import received a lovely trail into the race behind Sir Isaac Newton, while Palentino was settled in third.

Tosen Stardom went to Sir Isaac Newton, but Palentino went straight past the pair of them and he raced away from his rivals to score his fourth impressive victory over the mile at Flemington.

Trainer Darren Weir has been waiting for Palentino to return to Flemington all preparation long and he was clearly delighted to see the Australian Guineas winner return to winning form in the Blamey Stakes.

“Things just haven’t been going ideal,” Weir said.

“He has been doing a lot of things wrong, but today he did everything absolutely perfect.

“Everything worked well for him and he has an amazing turn-of-foot when everything goes well and he is a great horse.

“He is his own worst enemies at times and it was great to see him back to his best today.

“He got the best run out of them and Tosen Stardom still has a lot to come.

“He won by a large margin, but that was more to the fact that he had done everything right.”

Palentino has been included in the entries for the 2017 Doncaster Mile, but Sun Stud are a part-owner of the two-time Group 1 winner and Weir said that there is the chance the Teofilo entire will be retired to stand at stud.

“Sun Stud have been absolutely terrific to deal with and they have put no pressure on me at all to retire him,” Weir said.

“They will be very happy to see him back in the winner’s circle, but from my point of view the horse doesn’t have to do anything else.

“He is a great horse with a nice pedigree and he is certainly going to make a nice stallion.

“if they decide to go that way, he has done his job for us.”

Tosen Stardom was no match for Palentino, but he is still on track for the Group 1 Doncaster Mile (1600m), while fourth placegetter Real Love is set to head to Sydney for the Group 1 Queen Of The Turf Stakes (1600m).

About The Author

Thomas Hackett

Thomas is a passionate and opinionated racing journalist and punter who has been obsessed with horse racing since he backed Saintly to win the 1996 Melbourne Cup. An international racing enthusiast, he has his finger on the pulse of racing news not just from Australia but all around the world.