Mick Price & Michael Kent Jnr will aim to win the Listed Cranbourne Cup (1600m) for the second year running with the lightly raced Sabaj.
The progressive four-year-old impressed on his stable debut, winning a benchmark 84 race by 1.8 lengths on Champions Day at Flemington having been Group 2 placed behind the Price & Kent Jnr trained Reserve Bank when trained by Richard & Chantelle Jolly in Adelaide.
Kent Jnr believes the son of Manhattan Rain can follow in the footsteps of Globe, who was successful in last year’s Cranbourne Cup, going on to win the Group 1 Might And Power Stakes (2000m) at Caulfield this Spring.
“The Cranbourne Cup is the logical race for him,” Kent Jnr said.
“A mile, on his doorstep. The timing’s good, our only concern would be the tight track. He’s a get back, run on, big striding horse.”
The stable scratched Sabaj from a race on Melbourne Cup day before opting to run regardless of conditions on Champions Day, and Kent Jnr believes they made the right decision for a couple of reasons.
“I’m still glad we scratched him on the Tuesday,” Kent Jnr said.
“It ended up being a soft five only, but I don’t think we would have won.”
“We had an inside draw, and by race ten on Cup Day, they were all coming in the middle and the way Persian Spirit won down the outside, we would have been in traffic, whereas the wide draw on Saturday was the perfect set up.”
“We didn’t know if he’d get a wet track, but we took the positive view that we’re here to learn and find out.”
The Group 1 Railway Stakes (1600m) was touted as a possible option after Sabaj’s win, however that idea was quickly quashed given the horse is 41st in the order of entry, but Kent Jnr is confident the horse can measure up to some good races in the future.
“He’s very progressive, he’ll get his chance.”
Sabaj is one of 27 nominations for the $500,000 Cranbourne Cup and the stable’s only runner. The highest rated runner amongst the nominations is last-start Group 2 winner Warnie, one of four possible runners for Ciaron Maher.
