Trainer Marc Quinn has regrouped from Pentasia’s Ramornie Handicap defeat to put the sprinter on a long-range course towards the Oakleigh Plate.
The first part of his plan to have Pentasia in contention for the helter-skelter Caulfield sprint during next year’s Melbourne autumn carnival will be put into action at a Randwick on Saturday – a racetrack where she has never raced.
Pentasia is the early favourite to make up for her Ramornie minor placing in the Young Professionals In Racing July Sprint (1200m) where form out of the feature Grafton sprint will be an obvious reference point.
Youthful Jack came from behind Pentasia to win the Ramornie but Quinn figures a 2.5kg weight swing and a cleaner run will make the difference at Randwick.
“It was a huge effort for Youthful Jack to win but I think if Pentasia had drawn a gate we could have tagged in behind Adebisi and Big Bonanza and I reckon she would have finished over the top of them,” Quinn said.
“Looking at the race at Randwick there doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of speed and I can see Christian (Reith) putting her wherever he wants her to.”
Pentasia finished 1-1/2 lengths behind Youthful Jack in the Ramornie, a result that confirmed the mare’s transition to stakes racing without giving Quinn a win in one of the most coveted prizes in NSW country racing.
“It was frustrating because the Ramornie was the race I had in my thoughts for her for quite a while,” he said.
Now Quinn wants to target the Oakleigh Plate with Saturday’s sprint and next month’s Missile Stakes key races in his strategy to get her into the field.
“I might be shooting a bit high but she’ll be a six-year-old by then and right at her peak,” he said.
“The Oakleigh Plate is not always won by the best horse in the race. It’s won by the horse which gets the best run.”
Pentasia is the $4.60 favourite on Saturday in a race where there are another five horses under double figures including My Destiny ($6.50) and See The World ($8).
