Sydney’s traditionally wet autumn weather has prompted Victorian-based trainers Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr to bring two of their team north in the hope of striking rain-affected conditions during the carnival.
Both Globe and La Fracas will kick off their respective campaigns at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday, Globe in the Ajax Stakes (1500m) and La Fracas in the Maurice McCarten Stakes (1100m).
It will be the former’s first appearance since he was withdrawn from the Cox Plate on veterinary advice, having captured the Group 1 Caulfield Stakes (2000m) at his previous start, and Mick Price & Michael Kent Jnr said the horse had settled in well after arriving at their Sydney base several weeks ago.
“We’ve planned Sydney to take advantage of soft tracks. I know he won a Group One last time on good ground, but we feel he is an excellent wet tracker,” Kent Jnr said.
“He’s going super. His trials have been excellent. Outside gate, he’s only got one style and that’s to flow along out in front. There does look to be a bit of pressure inside him from Sandpaper and Willaidow, but he gave Tom Berry a great feel last week in the trial.
“If the track firms up, his chances decrease, and if it stays in that soft range then his chances are better.”
Kent Jnr said the soft tissue swelling that forced Globe’s withdrawal from the Cox Plate was relatively minor and “required no intervention, just a spell and rest”.
Nominated for the Doncaster Mile (1600m) and Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m), Globe’s carnival program hasn’t been set in stone, but Kent Jnr is optimistic the horse is poised for a fruitful campaign.
La Fracas will be striving to maintain his unbeaten first-up record in the Maurice McCarten Stakes, although Kent Jnr warns the 1100-metres is at the shorter end of the sprinter’s ideal distance range.
If he doesn’t win on Saturday, Kent Jnr has told punters to keep an eye out for him when he strikes a rain-affected surface.
“Mick (Price), in his time, thinks he’s one of the best wet trackers he has ever seen,” he said.
“His goal in life is to be up, fit, healthy and fresh when the rain arrives.
“We wouldn’t dismiss the idea of running him in a big sprint up there if the rain really teemed down.”
Craig Williams will partner La Fracas while Berry has the mount on Globe.
