The Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr stable could have taken the perceived softer option with two of their resuming gallopers at Caulfield.
The Evergreen Turf Handicap (1400m) on Saturday is run at benchmark 100 level and could have been the ideal starting point for Sabaj and Planet Red.
It was the race Sepals won last year before going on to claim the Group 1 Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield three weeks later.
With 15 runners, Price and Kent Jnr reasoned the smaller field of the Group 1 Memsie Stakes (1400m) on Saturday would instead be the launching pad for the pair, although victory would come as a surprise for Price.
The Memsie has brought together a field of 12, headlined by Group 1 winners Mr Brightside, Jimmysstar, Tom Kitten, Buckaroo, Birdman, Autumn Boy, Beiwacht and Treasurethe Moment, Group 1 winner in waiting Angel Capital and star Perth galloper Cosmic Crusader who is unbeaten in two starts for new trainer Andrea Leek.
Sabaj and Planet Red are both resuming and Price said he had booked Jamie Melham and Blake Shinn respectively for the rides on the pair with the intention of always starting in the Memsie.
Shinn partnered Planet Red in a recent Pakenham jump-out on August 11 behind Sheza Alibi while Sabaj finished just in front of his stablemate in that same jump-out.
“They’re both going well but I don’t expect either of them to win, I suppose,” Price said.
“Sabaj is a Cranbourne Cup winner who has a nice race in him while Planet Red is a three-year-old going into his four-year-old year.
“I think they’ll both be suited in mile handicaps, like the Toorak and those sorts of races.”
With a base at Rosehill in Sydney, Price said both Sabaj and Planet Red may eventually head north for the later part of the spring.
“The five-year-old Sabaj, might be headed to the Five Diamonds, the 1800 (metres) might be good and I think the Golden Eagle is a very hard race to win now because it’s 1500 (metres),” Price said.
“That’s a fast mile race, but he’ll be there to win the right races.”
Price and Kent Jnr know what it takes to win the $10 million Golden Eagle having taken the race in 2021 with I’m Thunderstruck.
The Golden Eagle is run on October 31 while the $2 million Five Diamonds (1800m) is run at Rosehill the following week.
