A lung infection stopped Lankan Rupee from showing his best form first-up and it subsequently left him slightly underdone at his second run back.
But for his third run this time in at Caulfield on Saturday his trainer Mick Price has no excuses prepared – and doesn’t expect to need any.
Lankan Rupee winning the KS Environmental Plate at Caulfield - photo by Race Horse Photos Australia
“He’s improved. There’ll be no excuses. He should win,” Price said.
“I’ll be disappointed if he doesn’t run a really, really good race.”
Lankan Rupee runs in the Sportiness Handicap (1100m), a race in which he meets his last-start Flemington conqueror Flamberge 1kg better for a long neck defeat.
He is also expected to be better suited around the turn at Caulfield than he was down the straight at Flemington.
“I think he’s better when he can accelerate off the turn. Caulfield’s his track,” Price said.
Lankan Rupee is one of three runners at Caulfield for whom Price has high hopes.
The second is Halle Rocks who resumes in the D’Urban Plate (1000m), with Tariana, the early favourite for the Perri Cutten Plate (1100m) capable of making it a winning treble.
Halle Rocks has had her share of issues, including a couple of bouts of the “thumps” and problems with electrolyte imbalances.
But Price is bullish about her prospects.
“She goes well fresh, she’s in the right race and she will be in the money,” he said.
Tariana is the best-fancied of Price’s Caulfield runners in pre-post betting, largely on the strength of excellent record when fresh and her four previous wins at Caulfield.
The most recent of those came in January when she led throughout to score impressively over 1200m.
In her two runs since, Tariana has run well in black-type races in Tasmania and Price says she is “just about spot on” for Saturday’s assignment.
