Co-trainer Luke Price is the first to admit that Our Bellagio Miss is an inconsistent type and at $23 in the market for the Eleven Eleven Benchmark 78 Handicap (1000m), the bookmakers appear to agree.
However, after winning a trial ‘at home’ at Kembla Grange before this first-up outing, Price’s confidence in the six-year-old mare isn’t dented.
“I pretty confident she’s going to run a blinder on Saturday,’ Price told Sky Sports Radio.
“She would prefer softer ground but on her home track, she can go really well.”
Shorter trips have been where Our Bellagio Miss has found her niche and Price says that it has taken time for the stable to get a sufficient handle on her since the mare joined their stable.
“She’s only been with us for 11 months now and she’s not the easiest horse to get to know and train but we’ve got to know her now, and her quirks.
“She hasn’t won a race with us yet, but she has gone close and she’s not the easiest mare to place either with her benchmark rating.
Our Bellagio Miss, to be ridden by Brock Ryan, was also entered for the $300,000 The Warra (1000m) but the team opted to scratch from that event in favour of this benchmark event.
The Price team also saddles up eight-year-old Cuban Royale first-up after he also won an 800m trial at Kembla Grange on November 9.
“He’s our old stable warrior,” Price adds.
“He’s come up a treat for an eight-year-old and you couldn’t tell how old he is because he gets around like a three-year-old.
“His record on his home track is super and I’m going there very confident that he runs a race on Saturday.”
Similarly longer priced in the TAB market, Cuban Royale is at $31 with Ryan also in the saddle and to start from barrier three.
Mars Mission is the favourite for that Traffic Logistics BM78 Handicap (1200m) at $3.90 and has drawn barrier 15.
