Luke Price is the first to concede Our Gold Hope will need tempo and luck to feature first-up in a black-type sprint, but he is equally adamant she is going well enough to belie her outsider status.
At $61, the mare is set to start the second longest-priced runner in Saturday’s Southern Cross Stakes (1200m) at Rosehill, her first appearance since finishing second to Socks Nation in the Queensland Oaks (2200m) in June.
She has looked to stretch out nicely in two recent barrier trials and having never finished further back than fifth in 10 starts over a variety of distances, half of them at Group level, Price wonders if bookmakers might have it wrong.
“I nearly fell over when I picked up the phone (Wednesday) afternoon at the races and saw 80-1. I was like, ‘oh, yes please’,” Price said.
“You’ve obviously got to be realistic. She’s first-up in harder grade at 1200 than what she has ever raced before.
“But the writing is on the board. She is going as well at home as what she has been trialing, so I’m really excited about getting her to the races and also for the autumn ahead.”
Price will cement a carnival program for Our Gold Hope after her second-up run, but Group 1 races are on his radar, including the Coolmore Classic (1500m) on March 15 and Queen Of The Turf Stakes (1600m) during the Randwick carnival.
While she was extended to middle-distances as a three-year-old, he said all signs pointed to her being more suited to a mile.
“I don’t think I will push her out (in journey) this preparation. The options are there to go further if need be, but even when she was going to 2000 last prep, her riders all thought she was probably a better miler because she was sharp,” he said.
“But you only get one opportunity to win an Oaks so that’s what we aimed for and her adaptability was quite good.
“We’re going to have to settle back from that barrier (on Saturday), but there looks like there could be enough speed on paper. If they run along and things pan out, I would not be surprised to see her flashing over the top of them with 53 kilos.”
The stable will also be represented by Noble Soldier in the Midway Handicap (1350m) and Mogwai in the Captivant @ Kia Ora Handicap (1350m), Price particularly upbeat about the chances of the latter.
“Mogwai has been a great buy for the stable,” he said.
“Hopefully he can pay for himself on Saturday as I expect he will be very hard to beat.”
