From Team Snowden
Horse: Unspoken
Message: (Saturday, Rosehill Race 4, Ranvet Hcp) Unspoken starts his second preparation for the stable. A small gear change could be the key to a breakthrough and he showed his readiness with a trial win over stablemate Tazaral recently. We put blinkers on his last few starts and he just got a bit too keen in the middle stages and I felt that took away a bit of his finish. So they’re off and on the back of his early runs last preparation you’d have to suggest he will run well fresh.
Horse: Pierossa
Message: (Saturday, Rosehill Race 5, NSW Thoroughbred Breeders Hcp) She was first-up at 1500m, she’s a 2000m plus horse and you watch her through the line she was very strong. She has no gate speed so she settles wherever she can depending on the tempo but she was doing her best work late which was good to see. The more sedate tempo it is the better it is for her because it gets her travelling and she has a better turn of foot.
Horse: Vomo Island
Message: (Saturday, Rosehill Race 7, Ming Dynasty Quality) He will be one of the best-looking horses in the yard, the physicality of him is amazing. He just needs to put it all together and maybe out to seven furlongs we might see that.
Horse: Don Corleone
Message: (Saturday, Rosehill Race 8, Run To The Rose) The colt had to settle for the minor prize in two Group 1s as a juvenile, finishing a luckless 2nd in the Blue Diamond Stakes then striking an unsuitable wet track when again runner-up in the ATC Sires’ Produce Stakes. Sandwiched in between was a fine 4th to Shinzo in the Golden Slipper. He’s there to run in the Golden Rose and this is the first step toward that. He’s a bigger, stronger, horse there’s no doubt about that and his trials reflect how well he is going. His last couple of runs were on heavy and he’s not a horse that appreciates that type of going. He will run well Saturday, there’s definitely some improvement but he’s not far off the mark.
From Gary Portelli
Horse: Encap
Message: (Saturday, Rosehill Race 7, Ming Dynasty Quality) Encap is the biggest improver in my stable by so far, it is ridiculous. His gallop (on Tuesday) was that of a horse going for the Everest, not trying to break his maiden. He worked the place down, ran 10.5s the last furlong with his rider hard against him, it was a brilliant gallop to watch. He is a serious racehorse. Encap is still learning his trade, he is not quite doing things right in the run. But that will come with experience. He does have massive acceleration, I believe he has a Group 1 in him, I don’t know if it is this campaign or next but he has that ability for sure.
From Joseph Pride
Horse: Cinderella Days
Message: (Saturday, Rosehill Race 6, Sheraco Stakes) Cinderella Days was disappointing with her first-up performance but I am happy to wipe it from the record as a pointer to her chances in the Group 2 Sheraco Stakes. She didn’t begin well and then she got stuck back on the inside on a day you didn’t want to be there. I’ll forgive her that but she will need a really good performance which I think she is capable of doing. She’s better when she leads, that will be the intention on Saturday, she looks happier. She pricks her ears and looks happy.
Horse: Ceolwulf
Message: (Saturday, Rosehill Race 7, Ming Dynasty Quality) Three-year-old Ceolwulf is thrown in the deep end in the Group 3 Ming Dynasty Quality. The colt is coming off a maiden win over 1400m at Warwick Farm just over a week ago. He ran the time, he ran 1:22.1 and for a spring three-year-old that’s quick. He’s a beautiful colt, he’s got a good future. Whether that’s going to be as a colt we might find out this Saturday but he’s a nice horse.
Horse: Argentia
Message: (Saturday, Rosehill Race 9, Theo Marks Stakes) Argentia has just raced twice for the stable and the 5YO hasn’t been afforded any luck in those two runs when 4th in the Missile Stakes then found herself stuck wide on speed in a gallant 2nd to Buenos Noches in the Group 3 Show County three weeks ago. We’re still learning about her but I think she’s set to peak in the next run or so. It was a mongrel draw in the end and it really played against her (in the Show County), and she’s better on the dry. I don’t know if there’s a horse going any better in the stable than her. I’m looking forward to her on Saturday. I’m just feeling my way through with her. In the autumn I think I’ll come up with a target for her but in this spring I’m just finding out what she’s all about
From Michael Freedman
Horse: Bunker Hut
Message: (Saturday, Rosehill Race 7, Ming Dynasty Quality) He somehow managed to pull both shoes off when he left the gates so he ran that race barefoot in front so there was more merit in his Warwick Farm win. He’s a progressive sort of horse, I think he’s better being kept at the shorter journeys. His trial was nice and gets into that race with a nice draw. It’s taken a while to work him out but I think he’s a horse that loves being ridden with a bit of cover.
Horse: Queen Of The Ball
Message: (Saturday, Rosehill Race 6, Sheraco Stakes) I think she’s going probably as well as she’s ever gone. She had a long spell after the autumn, had a tidy up in the throat where she had a growth we had removed. Her run in the Toy Show the other day on a slightly soft track, which is probably not ideal for her, was a very good run. Queen Of The Ball is fitter for the first-up run and will appreciate a firmer track so that will give Rachel King every opportunity to ride to her strengths and use barrier one. That’s her natural racing style, to go forward, and Rachel knows her very well. We won’t be taking too much time in terms of how we ride her.
Horse: Ducasse
Message: (Saturday, Rosehill Race 7, Ming Dynasty Quality) Ducasse has drawn the extreme outside in the capacity field of 18. Ducasse is in his second preparation and had a seasoning trip to Brisbane at two where he turned in a solid effort to finish midfield in the Group 2 Champagne Classic in May. He was luckless when resuming in the Up And Coming Stakes enduring a chequered passage in the straight before hitting the line stylishly for a late-closing 4th. Ducasse was probably pretty stiff. He never got much galloping room at any stage and he seems to have come through the run well. Ducasse gives me the impression he’ll enjoy eventually getting over a mile.
Horse: Moravia
Message: (Saturday, Rosehill Race 8, Run To The Rose) Lining up for just his third start, Moravia has gate 11 of 12. Moravia has been making a particularly rapid rise from a maiden win at Newcastle on debut to beat all but Libertad in the San Domenico Stakes. Moravia’s was a good effort coming off a maiden at Newcastle. It was a big step up. It will be exciting if he can take the next step and he seems to be in good order.
From Chris Waller
Horse: Zougotcha
Message: (Saturday, Rosehill Race 6, Sheraco Stakes) I think we’re leaning towards the Sheraco now, just because I’ve put the blinkers on hoping that will give us enough speed from the perfect barrier, which is gate four. It’s a field of eight, her own sex, whereas the Theo Marks we’ve got a few other chances as well and she’s drawn a little bit wider (eight).
Horse: Militarize
Message: (Saturday, Rosehill Race 8, Run To The Rose) Militarize is set to make his seasonal return in The Run To The Rose. Under the set weights and penalties conditions of the three-year-old feature, Militarize will carry topweight of 58.5kg and has drawn barrier 7 in the field of 12. I think we’ll run him in the three-year-old race (instead of the Theo Marks Stakes), which wasn’t my original plan. It’s a smaller field and he’s not in that well in at the weights in the Theo Marks against the older horses, not as well as I thought he might have been. I wouldn’t be expecting him to win over 1200, but I think it’s a good stepping-stone towards the Golden Rose and Caulfield Guineas, which I think is his race.
From The Editor
Sydney Race 8 – Libertad
Sydney Race 9 – Madame Pommery
