Rachel King will ride Lipizzan at Warwick Farm
He might not have won as many two-year-old races as some of the bigger stables this season but Gary Portelli can still claim bragging rights with the performances of She Will Reign capped by her Golden Slipper triumph.
While Lindsay Park, Godolphin, Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott and Peter and Paul Snowden lead the charge for juvenile winners, Portelli has racked up 10 including the biggest of all.
She Will Reign won four races while Lipizzan can make it three when she steps out at Warwick Farm on Saturday along with stablemate Nicci’s Gold who broke her maiden at Newcastle last month.
Portelli will return later this week from a short break in New Zealand for a rare Saturday meeting on his home track.
“Lipizzan has always shown ability and her form on wet tracks is a bonus at this time of year,” Portelli said.
“Rachel King will ride her again. She’s won two on her and we get to use her claim.
“Nicci’s Gold has been a little revelation.
“We didn’t expect her to win over 900 metres at Newcastle and then she’s come out and run second on the Beaumont track up there over older horses.
“I’ve always been pretty keen on her.”
Comeback jockey Josh Adams has ridden Nicci’s Gold at her past two starts and will again be aboard on Saturday when she runs over 1200 metres.
Sydney’s champion apprentice in 2010/11, Adams spent three years out of the limelight undergoing rehabilitation while serving a disqualification for a positive drug swab.
He returned to race riding earlier this year and made his first trip to Sydney on June 10 when he steered The Monstar to win the Listed June Stakes.
There were 13 entries taken on Monday for the two-year-old race including the Snowden-trained Star Galaxy who finished third to Lipizzan at Randwick on June 24.
While the two Portelli-trained fillies are trying to gain more late-season prize money, She Will Reign has returned to the stable after a break to be prepared for a two-run campaign with the Moir Stakes at Moonee Valley the proposed lead-in to The Everest at Randwick in October.
