Date posted March 19, 2010 | Posted by Michele Cullen | Filed under
Racing and Breeding,
Staff FavouritesMelbourne, Vic (March 19th, 2010) - By his standards, Caulfield based trainer Mick Price is set for a relatively quiet day at his home track on Saturday as he saddles up only three runners for the afternoon – and all in the $100,000 Listed Anniversary Vase.He also has multiple feature runners at Morphettville in what could prove to be a case of déjà vu and anything but a quiet day in Adelaide on Saturday.
Saturday’s feature race at Caulfield is not the only three-pronged attack for Price this weekend. He will do likewise with the two Group 1 races at headquarters in Adelaide with stable new-comer Velocitea (Volksraad - Cat Shmea by Felix the Cat) in the Group 1 Sportingbet Classic (1200m - registered name Robert Sangster Stakes) and Aloha (Encosta de Lago - Tennessee Midnight by Danehill) and Nakaaya (Tiger Hill - Duchess Talaria by Marwina) engaged in the Group 1 Schweppes Oaks (2006m) – the same two races Price successfully trained the winners of exactly 12 months ago.
Velocitea (Volksraad - Cat Shmea by Felix the Cat)
Bel Mer (Bel Esprit - Drop Anchor by At Talaq), ridden by Craig Newitt, won the 2009 Robert Sangster Stakes while Gallica (Redoute’s Choice - Swing Queen by Kingmambo) claimed victory in the 2009 Schweppes Oaks providing Price and Newitt with a race-to-race Group 1 double.
Gallica, who won the Group 1 Schweppes Thousand Guineas at Caulfield in October 2008, is aiming for success again but this time in Melbourne as she is among the three horses Price has accepted for in Saturday’s Anniversary Vase (1400m) along with Pre Eminence (Encosta de Lago - Lady Silver Hawk by Silver Hawk) and another new stable acquisition, Gran Sasso (Dehere - Lady Soffel by Rubiton).
Gallica’s win in the Australasian Oaks last year was the first for Price in that particular race while Bel Mer made it three wins for the champion trainer in the Robert Sangster Stakes following on from the successes of Spirit of Love (1998) and French Bid (2004).
Gran Sasso will be having his fourth run for Price after being transferred from the stables of retired trainer, Brian Mayfield-Smith. His three runs to date under the care of Price have been over 1100 metres (twice) and 1200 metres in the Rubiton Stakes, Oakleigh Plate and Newmarket Handicap respectively. Gran Sasso will step up to the 1400 metre trip of the Anniversary Vase on Saturday, a distance he is yet to win at.
Twice a winner at Group level, Pre Eminence is resuming from a spell that began after finishing last in the Moe Cup 21 weeks ago.
Three-year-old fillies Aloha and Nakaaya have both had lead-up runs in Adelaide before Saturday’s Group 1 test while Velocitea, another horse acquired from Mayfield-Smith, is taking faultless form to Morphettville having won her last two starts at black-type level and both at Caulfield.
Also during the day at Caulfield Ortensia (ex Aerate’s Pick by Picnicker) will gallop between races 5 and 6 at Caulfield on Saturday. The four-year-old mare by Testa Rossa has had 16 career starts winning eight races, five of which have been at black-type level in four different states.
She is being prepared for a first up run in The Galaxy (Group 1) at Randwick on 17 April, Sebastian Murphy, who rode Ortensia at only her second start for a victory at Betfair Park, is the un-confirmed, but likely rider for her in Saturday’s gallop where she will be accompanied by a stablemate
