Trainer Cliff Brown admits the task facing Sepals will not be an easy one as the pair chase a Group 1 win at Caulfield.
Brown was no stranger to Group 1 success in Australia before a 12-year career in Singapore saw him rack up multiple wins at the highest level.
Returning to Melbourne in 2021, Brown saw The Inferno narrowly beaten in that year’s Manikato Stakes and while Group 1 runners have not been as many as he would have liked since, he heads to the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes (1400m) on Saturday with a solid chance.
Sepals has a touch of class but will be taking on some seasoned performers in Saturday’s contest at his seventh career start, but he does have a Group 2 victory to his credit along with a fourth in the Group 1 Australian Guineas (1600m) at Flemington at his fifth race start.
Brown thought enough of Sepals to pitch the gelding first-up into the Group 2 P B Lawrence Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield last month, but a mishap in the barriers led to the gelding being scratched.
A trial followed and instead of heading to the Group 1 Memsie Stakes (1400m) on August 30, Brown aimed Sepals at the benchmark 100 contest over the same trip that day and the gelding strolled away for a 4-½ length victory.
Craig Williams thought enough of the win and was quickly on the phone to Brown with a booking confirmed just days later.
Brown said Sepals had trained on perfectly since his first-up victory but concedes gate 16 on Saturday will make the task tough.
“He looks well and we’re hopeful,” Brown said.
“The 1400-metre start at Caulfield is tricky enough, let alone jumping from the near outside gate.
“It isn’t perfect, and it will be dependent on how the track is playing as well. He was impressive the other day, but it was a benchmark race, and we have to now go several levels higher.
“Angel Capital did it in a Group race and was just as impressive against better opposition.”
Brown said Sepals was a thicker, more mature galloper from the one that presented during his three-year-old year, but he is also taking on more seasoned gallopers with greater race experience.
He said Saturday’s performance will clear a number of things in his mind as to where the gelding sits against stronger opposition.
“He didn’t grow a lot, but he certainly thickened and strengthened and mentally he knows what it’s about now, so on Saturday we will find out a lot of things,” Brown said.
“But the barrier is a concern, and we must be mindful of a few factors of how the race is run, where he settles and how he runs himself.”
