Cranbourne based trainer Robbie Griffiths has decided to look outside his own backyard for Group 2 winning sprinter Rey Magnerio’s next run.
A second tilt in the $1 million The Meteorite (1200m) at Cranbourne would have been an easy target, but the lure of a Group 1 has enticed Griffiths to target the Winterbottom Stakes (1200m) at Ascot on November 29.
“He leaves Sunday (16th) to go to Sydney, and then he flies from Sydney to Perth, and he should be there late Monday night,” Griffiths said.
A dynamic winner of the Group 2 Caulfield Sprint (1000m) first up, Rey Magnerio got into an awkward spot Listed Century Stakes (1000m) at Flemington on VRC Oaks day when flashing late for third in a race Griffiths said he should’ve won.
“He should have won easily,” Griffiths lamented.
“He just got into awkward spots, and in a 1000 metre race, you can’t have anything go wrong.
“He’s ended up sort of zigzagging everywhere, which is a shame. But the horse’s performance was very, very good.”
Rey Magnerio has never travelled outside of Victoria, but is no stranger to Group 1 racing having contested four top-level sprints, his best result coming when third to Jimmysstar in the Oakleigh Plate (1100m) earlier this year.
“We actually think the bigger track suits him a bit better than Cranbourne,” Griffiths said.
“Cranbourne, you’ve got to be sort of in a key spot, and last year we thought, because he raced forward, it took away a little bit of his sort of finish.
“Plus, we were going to go (to Perth) last year but we ended up electing for The Meteorite, so this year we thought we’d give it a crack.”
Griffiths deliberately avoided running in the Group 1 Champions Sprint (1200m) on the final day of the Flemington carnival with the hope that Rey Magnerio would be ready to peak once he got to Perth.
“We kept him at the 1,000 (metres) so he didn’t have too many hard runs; he had a pretty solid run at Caulfield first up,” Griffiths said.
“So we thought the 1,000 would be a lot easier than trying to take on the Champions Sprint.
“That way it gives him an extra couple of days to recover, knowing that he’s got to travel for the first time, so we thought that was a better lead in to the Winterbottom.”
