Portelli keen on Verona Rose’s Coolmore chance
Gary Portelli is confident Verona Rose (Castelvecchio) – his $40,000 yearling who’s now worth close to $3 million – has a strong chance of boosting her value still further by becoming her sire’s third individual elite-level winner in Saturday’s Coolmore Classic (Gr 1, 1500m).
Plucked from the barn of breeders Arrowfield Stud at the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale of 2023, the bargain buy mare has already reaped connections more than $700,000 in prize-money, ticking past that threshold with her dominant last-start win in Randwick’s Guy Walter Stakes (Gr 2, 1400m).
And Portelli now believes she’s well primed for further success at Rosehill on Saturday, where she’ll attempt to join Aeliana and El Castello as a top tier winner – among six stakes victors – for Arrowfield’s $49,500 sire Castelvecchio (Dundeel).
Portelli would have preferred Verona Rose to receive 55 kilograms rather than her 56 kilograms for the quality handicap mares’ event. But the knowledge his four-year-old can adapt racing styles depending on her barriers has the Warwick Farm-based trainer extremely positive about Saturday’s assignment, for which Craig Williams again takes the ride.
“This morning’s work was as good a piece of work as you’ll ever see,” Portelli, who galloped the mare with her three-year-old stablemate Queen Of Clubs (Maurice), told ANZ News on Tuesday.
“It’s the sort of work you’d want to see going into a big race, and she’s ready to rock and roll this weekend.
“I’m pretty confident. I would’ve liked to have seen her get a kilo lighter in the weights, but then again, I believe barriers mean more than weights these days – you’ve got to be in the sweet spot in the run – so I’ll be hoping she draws well on Wednesday.
“But at this stage – you don’t want to get too cocky – but you know she runs out the distance solidly, since she’s won over a mile, and she’s in great form, so I think she deserves her place amongst the favourites, put it that way.”
Bookmakers on Wednesday had Verona Rose at $10 in a market headed by the Chris Waller-trained Lazzura (Snitzel) at $4.80. Brad Widdup’s Savyv Hallie (Hellbent) sat on the second line of the betting at $5.00.
Portelli reported insurers had been led to reassess Verona Rose after her second stakes victory in the Guy Walter.
“They’ve insured her to the value of $2 million now,” he said, “but they tell me she’s probably worth closer to $3 million, since she’s still racing for prize-money.”
All of which makes the mare’s progression the stuff of fairytales.
Portelli was inspired to buy three products of Castelvecchio’s first crop – partly because he was still stung by not buying Castelvecchio himself as a yearling. Whilst he’d intended to purchase the colt, a timing mix-up at that Classic sale of 2018 meant he was outside inspecting a yearling for clients when Castelvecchio went through the ring.
But while the two Castelvecchio colts Portelli bought in 2023 didn’t amount to much, the cheap filly he picked up has transpired to be Verona Rose, a dual stakes winner so far, and with much more on the horizon now the once skinny filly has grown into a far stronger mare.
She’s the third foal out of Minamya (Makfi), a daughter of an outstanding broodmare sire who Arrowfield imported after she’s won over 1900 metres at Deauville.
Second dam Minatyla (Linamix) won two French stakes races up to 2400 metres, and was a sister to Manighar. That grey gelding ran seventh and fifth in the Melbourne Cups (Gr 1, 3200m) of 2010 and 2011 for Luca Cumani, before staying in Australia with Peter Moody and claiming three Group 1s on the bounce – the Australian Cup (Gr 1, 2000m), the Ranvet Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m) and The BMW (Gr 1, 2400m).
Minamya’s second foal – and first named – fetched a handsome $425,000 at Inglis Easter. Trained by Ron Quinton as Watch My Girl (Maurice), she would win five times, twice in Sydney city class, and run fifth in last year’s Millie Fox Stakes (Gr 2, 1300m) before retirement – and an unsuccessful cover by I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit) last spring.
Despite Watch My Girl’s yearling price, Portelli thought he’d be able to swoop on the yearling Verona Rose “as a cheapie”.
“I said at the sale, ‘We’re going to be buying an Oaks-type filly this year’, and she was the one we thought would bring the least amount of money, because she had a stayer’s pedigree,” he said.
“So we targeted her, thinking we’d get her cheap. I’d been told the reserve was $40,000, so I landed on that, and there wasn’t another bid.
“She sold very, very quickly. A big syndicate of people, a lot of our loyal owners, bought small shares, and it’s great to see them rewarded.”
An amount of late blooming and some less expected setbacks – such as cutting a leg when becoming cast in her box one day – meant Verona Rose wouldn’t race at two.
“She was a bit quirky early on, and wasn’t very accommodating when it came to trackwork,” Portelli said, “but in time she came good.”
Starting as a lean type who’d take weeks to build condition then lose it through one race – after which she’d “look like a greyhound” according to her trainer – Verona Rose won on debut as a three-year-old over 1300 metres at Kembla Grange in November 2024, as a little fancied $21 chance.
That came on the same day Portelli’s resident star mare Kimochi (Brave Smash) took the Rupert Clarke Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) at Caulfield, and it was a fortuitous marker for her trainer. While Kimochi would have to be retired due to injury after four more winless runs, Verona Rose would surge to take her place as the star of Portelli’s compact stable.
Tipped out for a spell following that debut win – in the vain hope of putting more meat on her bones – Verona Rose more strongly hinted at her abilities with a first-up victory at Wyong in a Benchmark 64 over 1350 metres, coming from well back on the turn into the short home straight to score by 1.17 lengths.
Kerrin McEvoy was aboard that day and zealously kept the ride for the filly’s next, sterner, test. Sent out with a small amount of support as a $14 shot in the Kembla Grange Classic (Gr 3, 1600m), and jumping from gate ten of 15, Verona Rose and McEvoy looked hopelessly positioned when 14th entering the straight. But the slender filly burnt down the outside to score in the last bound by 0.2 lengths.
Verona Rose’s trajectory then hit something of a flat spot. She wouldn’t win again in her next seven starts, though they included meritorious efforts in strong company.
She ran fourth in the Vinery Stud Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m), was tried at distance but couldn’t see out the trip when sixth in the ATC Oaks (Gr 1, 2400m), and in her next campaign, last September, ran a 0.97 length second in Newcastle’s Tibbie Stakes (Gr 3, 1400m).
But deeper into that preparation, the spring four-year-old showed her class again by taking Flemington’s $355,000 Inglis Bracelet (1600m) for fillies and mares – under equal topweight of 58.5 kilograms in the set weights and penalties affair – after Williams had successfully pursued his second ride on the mare.
After a short summer break, a stronger Verona Rose resumed last month with a third in Randwick’s Triscay Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m) under Ashley Morgan.
Williams then again claimed the ride in the Guy Walter, and partnered Verona Rose to victory as a $5 second elect, beating $3.40 favourite Manaal (Tassort) by 0.83 lengths.
The canny Williams – who also rode Kimochi to her Rupert Clarke success – has found a key to Verona Rose. In both the Inglis Bracelet and the Guy Walter, he stoked her up early to claim a far more forward position than her usual rearward spot, travelling in the one-one.
Both times, those early exertions have left Verona Rose without her customary burst of acceleration, but instead she has shown tremendous power and determination to grind home in the straight and beat off her challengers.
This Saturday, with Williams aboard, she makes her fourth attempt at the Group 1 that would lead to her value as a broodmare skyrocketing.
Not only does Portelli believe she’s far better poised – mentally and physically – for this latest assault than in the past three, he’s heartened that she can adapt to whatever barrier she draws in the large Coolmore field.
“If she draws wide she has the capacity to go back and unwind that great finishing burst. But if she draws low, she’s shown she can also hunt up and do it that way,” he said.
“Her ability to take up a position now is good. That makes it a lot easier for us. We’re not a one trick pony like some horses.
“It all comes down to the tempo. If there’s no tempo, you’ll probably see Savvy Hallie lead, and if we draw close to her, we’ll keep her in our sights.
“But Verona Rose can also go back. Plus I’ve got a jockey on that makes very few mistakes. I don’t have to worry about instructions. And the mare has a massive finish on her. We’ve seen her come from unbelievable positions to win. So if she draws wide, I’d have no problems seeing her three-wide with cover.”
Portelli now also has Verona Rose’s half-brother by Hitotsu (Maurice) in his stable, having paid $100,000 to secure him from Arrowfield’s draft at Magic Millions Gold Coast in January.
Minamya bore a Castelvecchio colt last October, but sadly died a month later.