A disappointed Gary Portelli has been forced to delay the return of I’m All The Talk but remains confident the colt can shine this spring.
A winning barrier trial last week should have sealed a trip to Melbourne for Saturday’s Vain Stakes at Caulfield but the trainer was unhappy with what he saw and ordered blood tests.
“He didn’t trial as well as I thought he would and blood tests showed his white count wasn’t quite right,” Portelli said.
“It means he misses the Vain Stakes but there are plenty of other races for him.
“We won’t rush.”
The winner of the Skyline Stakes in the autumn, I’m All the Talk began his preparation with a barrier trial win last month with Glen Boss aboard.
Boss made the trip to Sydney specifically to ride I’m All The Talk with a view to the Vain Stakes and also jumped on his stablemate Rebel Dane who won his heat.
“He remains on target for the Show County Quality at Warwick Farm on Saturday week,” Portelli said.
“We’ll keep him to shorter races. We aren’t going to commit to anything yet.
“He is a hard horse to keep the weight on and I need to let him tell me how he is going.
“He had a couple of hard runs in the autumn but we were committed to a plan. This time we will let him tell us.”
Rebel Dane won the Royal Sovereign Stakes in February before being beaten just a short head by Pierro in the Hobartville Stakes.
He was then fourth behind It’s A Dundeel at his first Group One start in the Randwick Guineas before finishing 10th in the weight-for-age George Ryder won by Pierro.
Portelli said he was in no rush to target a Group One this spring with the Galaxy next autumn a long term aim for Rebel Dane.
