Rampant Lion to lead Moody’s immediate juvenile charge with tilt at Maribyrnong Trial
Brereton likely to be held back as Incentivise heads towards the Turnbull Stakes
Much of the general racing public’s attention will be on Turnbull Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m) favourite Incentivise (Shamus Award) at Flemington on Saturday, but it is the younger members of Peter Moody’s imposing stable that have the potential to steal the limelight.
The Pakenham trainer, who is nearly 18 months into his comeback and entering his second spring carnival, has three juveniles entered for the Maribyrnong Trial (Listed, 1000m) and will also run lightly raced three-year-old Gimmie Par (Not A Single Doubt) in the Danehill Stakes (Gr 2, 1100m) at Flemington on Saturday.
Yesterday Jeff O’Connor – Moody’s right-hand man and racing manager – revealed only one of the stable’s trio of two-year-olds, exciting Frankel (Galileo) colt Rampant Lion, was likely to take his place in the Maribyrnong Trial.
Brereton (Zoustar), who like Rampant Lion trialled stylishly at Cranbourne on September 13, is set to be held back for the Debutant Stakes (Listed, 1000m) at Caulfield on October 9 and the paddock appears to be calling Boogie Dancer (Sooboog), a Pakenham jump out winner on September 14.
Bred by part-owner Rosemont Stud, Rampant Lion has arguably defied his pedigree, being by Frankel, and is on the cusp of having his first start at the beginning of October in his juvenile season. It is a fact not lost on O’Connor and Moody but the promising colt has given the pair no reason not to continue with his preparation.
“We’ve just kept the Frankel (factor) at the back of our heads, not at the front, and looked at him as a horse and he’s coped with everything and done everything right,” O’Connor told ANZ Bloodstock News.
“Everyone saw his trial and there’s not a lot between the two colts at all, Rampant Lion and Brereton, the Zoustar and the Frankel.
“They are just terrific early going two-year-olds who have just coped with everything and he looks ready to go to the races, Rampant Lion.
“We have mixed their work up the past few weeks. They went down to the beach and they’ve had a good time. We’ve given them no reason to be narky or anything like that.”
Rampant Lion and Brereton, the latter owned by the Rosemont Stud-led Victorian Alliance partnership, were also nominated for the ATC Breeders’ Stakes (Gr 3, 1000m) at Randwick on Saturday but O’Connor has already ruled out a trip north for the duo.
Boogie Dancer, a $50,000 Inglis Premier graduate from the Rushton Park draft, was also among the Maribyrnong Trial nominations but the stable is taking a cautious approach with the half-sister to Group 3 winner Miss Exfactor (Your Song) and Brandwood (Epaulette), who was sold to Hong Kong on the back of two impressive wins in Brisbane.
“She has (a decent pedigree) and we didn’t expect her to get this far at all in her first prep,” O’Connor said.
“Back in the autumn we had a two-year-old by Sooboog who won a maiden and then was stakes-placed (Birdsville) and so we just thought we’d put her in work to see how she progresses and this is really her first real prep and she’s got this far.
“I am not sure she will get to the races this preparation, but she shows a lot of promise.”
Another colt in the ownership of the Victorian Alliance who is in training with Moody is Millane (Zoustar) and he barrier trialled at Cranbourne on the same day as Brereton and Rampant Lion, but he was sent to the paddock after his public hit-out.
O’Connor and Moody are mapping out tentative plans for Millane to join Rampant Lion and Brereton in stakes races later in the season.
“With your two-year-olds you can back off them for three or four weeks, go again, they are just such eager animals and most of the time they just want to be in work and doing things until it is really obvious that they have had enough,” he said.
“These two colts just aim to please and they have given us confidence that we could pull up and aim them up at the massive feature races like those ones (the Blue Diamond and Golden Slipper).
“The autumn is still on the radar for Millane. He was one of the horses, as an alternative to these colts, who needed a break and a little bit more time, but we saw some nice signs from him.”
The more immediate focus for Moody will be Gimmie Par who will take on the colts in this weekend’s Danehill Stakes, reduced from 1200 metres to 1100 metres this year in order to provide a better lead-up to the Coolmore Stud Stakes (registered as Ascot Vale Stakes) (Gr 1, 1200m) on Derby Day.
A half-sister to dual Group 1 winner and Vinery Stud first season sire Ole Kirk (Written Tycoon), the Gilgai Farm-bred and raced Gimmie Par has been deliberately kept fresh for Saturday’s Group 2 following her first-up win in the Quezette Stakes (Gr 3, 1100m) at Caulfield on August 14.
“She is not a massive filly and we are trying to place her to advantage. She won her first grand final this prep when she won the stakes race over a month ago now, and we wanted to give her another look down the straight,” said O’Connor.
“She ran second to Ingratiating on debut at Flemington, so that was a good pointer for the straight, and she’s done really well in the weeks since her first-up win.
“In her win at Caulfield (on April 24) she was probably at the end of her prep, but then she came back and won again at Caulfield this time in and there was a lot more merit in her performance.”
As for Incentivise, the five-year-old gelding who won six straight by a combined 42 lengths in Queensland, who made an immediate southern impression with his Makybe Diva Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m) win on September 11, also at Flemington.
The Caulfield Cup (Gr 1, 2400m), Cox Plate (Gr 1, 2040m) and Melbourne Cup (Gr 1, 3200m) could be on the cards for the son of Shamus Award (Snitzel) and what direction he heads will become clearer after his second-up run on Saturday.
“He had a couple of trips away. He went to Moonee Valley, he went to Caulfield ticking all the boxes and we are looking forward to seeing him at 2000 metres this week,” said O’Connor.