Ben Pearce was an admirer of Sinful Living’s return fourth to Golden Vale and predicts the filly will be even better for her next clash at Pinjarra on Saturday.
Costing a modest $10,000 as a yearling for an all-girl syndicate, Sinful Living can pinch her biggest payday in the Magic Millions WA 2YO Classic (1200m).
“She was going five weeks between runs and was given 10 days in the paddock,” Pearce said to The Races WA.
“She went into that probably a little bit underdone with in mind that this is the final for her.
“She’s drawn a really good gate and drops 3kgs after last couple of runs going up in weight.
“For a smallish filly you have to expect their going to take some sort of harm from the weight.
“Dropping back to 54.5kg will be beneficial for her and she should run well.”
With several of the favoured runners to start wide, Sinful Living, with her gate speed, has drawn perfectly in barrier seven. Clint Johnston Porter booked as new rider
The explosive sprinter scored leading wins for Sydney jockey Rachel King before going for a short break after her second consecutive victory on New Year’s Day.
Pearce, who trains in partnership with his brother, Dan, said Johnston-Porter had options from his starting position.
“From a good gate she can be up there in the first few, without having to do a lot of work,” Pearce said.
“Whether she leads or not we’ll just see how silly they want to go in front.
“If someone wants to put there foot down and go at a ridiculous pace we’ll let them go.
“But, she’s pretty fast and can land there and if Clint’s happy being there that’s fine.
“If they boot along she’s going to get a cozy run behind them.
“It was good to see her get a sit behind a couple last start.
“I thought she presented and was a big danger at the 300m, but fitness probably saw her out.”
Pearce is adamant Sinful Living can bridge the gap and turn the tables on Golden Vale, a strong form race with sound efforts from place getters Gold Maker and Earthstorm.
The win kept Golden Vales’s undefeated status in tact and kept her growing hype alive after scoring on debut for top juvenile trainer Simon Miller last October.
“I’d say Golden Vale is probably the one and also Define Beautiful could be one of the ones to beat,” Pearce said.
“Golden Vale has gone well, but I mean she hasn’t strung many races together yet.
“She was obviously pretty good first up, but what’s her second up form like, we haven’t seen yet.
“Our horse has managed to come through and maintain a preparation and has got the race experience.”
Sinful Living is $10 with Ladbrokes, in from $12 with popular betting sites.
Golden Vale the $2.25 favourite with betting apps.
