Melbourne’s strongest stable has settled on the richest race in Australia on Saturday to provide it with its best winning chance from a dozen runners at Caulfield.
Champion trainer Peter Moody, through his racing manager Jeff O’Connor, is confident star gelding Ready To Rip can notch a hat-trick of wins when he lines up at weight-for-age in the $220,000 P B Lawrence Stakes (1400m).
The five-year-old, to be ridden by three-times Melbourne premier jockey Luke Nolen, is a $4.40 chance behind $3.30 favourite Luckygray.
But O’Connor has pinpointed the Bletchingly Stakes winner as the best of Moody’s 12 runners.
“I’m going to go with Ready To Rip,” O’Connor told Melbourne radio station RSN.
“I love him and he’s honest, he’s racing in great form and it’s going to take a good horse to beat him.
“He’s got the fitness, he’s got the heavy track, he’s got a good gate, he seems to like Caulfield. He loves the place here.”
O’Connor said while Luckygray seemed to be the main threat, there was a major question mark over how he would handle a heavy track.
“Luckygray’s certainly there to beat him if he copes with a soft ground but I think Ready To Rip will be there at the 100 (metres) challenging,” he said.
Luckygray’s trainer Gino Poletti said the West Australian, who has chalked up 10 wins from his 13 starts and will be out for his fourth in succession, had shown he could compete in Melbourne.
“Those (last three wins) are just three real good races because with this class of horse you don’t get many races to run in over in Perth,” Poletti said.
“I earmarked him for those three with the view that if he came through those three alright we’d come over here and give him two or three runs over here and just test the waters.”
However Poletti admitted that Luckygray might struggle on the unfamiliar wet track.
“It’s a little disappointing for the connections and the horse – he could flop on this,” he said.
“Unfortunately he’s never put a toe on a wet track so it’s all up in the air.”
The Quezette Stakes (1100m) is dominated by home-track runners, headed by Blue Diamond Stakes winner Samaready while Moody has three capable fillies – Ephemera, Mareeza and Convene – engaged.
“It’s a pretty hot race (and we’re) probably taking advantage of their fitness on a very heavy ground and hopefully that will see them in the finish,” O’Connor said.
