Trainer Udyta Clarke says there’s plenty of time for interstate travel with stable star Rich Charm.
Clarke has resisted the temptation of running for $1 million in Saturday’s Group One Goodwood in Adelaide and instead will run in the $120,000 The Straight Six at Flemington.
A winner over Saturday’s course and distance during last year’s Melbourne Cup carnival, Rich Charm was a last start winner of the VOBIS Gold Sprint at Caulfield on April 21.
Jockey Patrick Moloney thought the Goodwood a viable option for the five-year-old, but Clarke was having none of it.
“I don’t want to travel him as there’s plenty of races here for him,” Clarke said.
“He’s only 15,000 off winning a million dollars and that’s pretty amazing for a home-bred horse with me training him.
“I know going to Flemington he’ll come home and eat up and that he’s going to be happy.
“If I went to Adelaide he could stress his heart out, get travel sick and not settle.
“He’s not ready for it but when he’s ready for it, maybe.”
Since Rich Charm’s latest outing he’s trialled at Cranbourne, finishing a comfortably beaten fifth.
Clarke wasn’t perturbed and was much happier following the gelding’s gallop at Cranbourne on Tuesday morning.
As Saturday’s race approaches Clarke said she can feel herself getting a little anxious.
“He’s well. He’s always well,” Clarke said.
“I’m the one that always gets toey and he knows it’s getting close to race day again.
“He knows when he has his final gallop and he decides then that its game on and he becomes more difficult to handle.
“He had his final gallop this morning. He was a good boy and did everything right.”
With the work complete, Clarke now wants the right barrier so regular rider Patrick Moloney will get the right run.
“We don’t want to draw one, two or three,” she said.
“We want to get a bit of cover and then get the luck.
“You always need luck in races.”
