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Verbek out to close campaign with a win; Distance queries for Pride pair in Cup
Verbek out to close campaign with a win
A small field and the chance to land a confidence-boosting win have convinced trainers Robert and Luke Price to give Gr.1 Spring Champion Stakes (2000m) hopeful Verbek one more run before tipping him out for a winter break.
The two-year-old has finished runner-up at his past three starts, the latest when placed behind Volcanic Rock in the Listed The Phoenix (1500m) in Brisbane during a hit-and-run trip that the trainers hope can prove the making of the youngster.
"A trip away is so valuable for a horse, especially at that age," Robert Price said.
"The thing about the trip away is you're more one-on-one and they're getting that special attention.
"Notoriously, these late two-year-old races, especially the ones around a mile, always get small fields and the weather was horrible so we thought, bugger it, we'll just give him a couple of nice days in the paddock (after Queensland) and bring him back in."
Verbek will have seven rivals in Saturday's E Group Security Handicap (1500m) at Rosehill in what will be his final campaign run.
It will give him enough time to have a few weeks in the paddock before he returns for a Spring Champion Stakes preparation.
The two-year-old is by Windsor Park Stud stallion Turn Me Loose out of High Chaparral mare Chapchick whose two wins were on heavily rain-affected tracks, auguring well for him to handle the wet conditions.
Verbek is the only horse Price trains by the sire but he would happily welcome a few more into the stable.
"I really like the sire," Price said.
"I've watched them come through the sales and he certainly puts his stamp on them. They're big, strong individuals with good temperaments."
Turn Me Loose stands at Windsor Park Stud and has also produced unbeaten Kiwi youngster and Listed winner Turn The Ace.
Distance queries for Pride pair in Cup
The 2000m journey of the McKell Cup will present different challenges for a pair of stablemates, but their trainer remains hopeful one of them can come away with a win.
Pre-race favourite Stockman will have to handle a significant distance drop while for stablemate Brutality, it is a rise in journey that presents unchartered waters as he extends beyond a mile for the first time.
Stockman is coming off a solid third over 2400m in the Winter Cup two weeks ago and with plans to back him up in next Saturday's Stayer's Cup (3200m) at Randwick, Pride admits Saturday's race presents an interesting conundrum.
"Coming back from 2400 for him won't be easy because he is quite dour, but a wet track will offset that to some degree," Pride said.
"He just needs to wind up and the other day when he was trying to wind up, he went up the inside and got chopped out.
"He's drawn one again here which probably doesn't do him any favours, but the wet tracks are the key to him, he loves them."
Stockman was a $4.60 TAB fixed odds favourite on Friday with Brutality at $10, but Pride can make a case for his underdog.
The gelding backs up from a fourth over 1600m at Randwick last weekend in what is a proven formula for the horse.
"I've run him three times with less than two weeks between runs and he's won all three of them and he's on the back-up here. I think punters will work that out and he'll start a bit shorter than what he is now," Pride said.
"He's got to run the 2000 metres but he's got an electric turn of foot on him, a lot sharper turn of foot than a lot of these.
"He might just be a miler but he's always strong through the line over a mile, so you've got to find out at some point and I thought this was a nice opportunity to do it with a light weight on his back, a wet track and on the back up."
Rosehill was rated a heavy 8 on Friday with rain forecast overnight and on race day.
Stockman was purchased out of Cambridge Stud's 2018 New Zealand Bloodstock Book 1 Yearling Sale draft for $175,000.
