David Vandyke is hoping Prince Cheri’s win at Rosehill on Saturday is enough to convince Victorian handicappers to lift his rating to get him into the feature spring races.
Prince Cheri missed a start in the Listed Premier’s Cup (1800m) as the second emergency and was re-routed into a benchmark race over 1500 metres.
Prince Cheri - Photo by Steve Hart
Vandyke’s aim with the French import is the Caulfield Cup but he is a long way from a start and went into Saturday’s race with an 81 rating.
“I’m hoping this will lift him up to around 92 so he can get a start in the Naturalism Stakes,” Vandyke said.
The winner of the Group Three Naturalism (2000m) gains an automatic start in the Caulfield Cup (2400m) on October 19.
Prince Cheri ($4.80) beat the favourite Eigelstein ($2.80) by 1-3/4 lengths under a confident ride from Jay Ford.
The five-year-old entire came to Vandyke as the winner of a 2400m race in France on debut followed by a second over the same distance.
He has won two of his three starts in Australia.
The Metropolitan (2400m) at Randwick on October 5 is among the Group One races Prince Cheri is entered in and is a target for Danas Best, winner of Saturday’s Benchmark 80 over 2400m.
The winner of two 1900m races at Canterbury in recent weeks, Danas Best, the $3.20 favourite, handled the extra distance with ease, beating Ghost Protocol ($7) by three-quarters of a length with race leader Agent Bauer ($10) a neck third.
Trainer Gai Waterhouse said Danas Best would go to the Metropolitan via the Newcastle Cup on September 19.
