Connections of Caulfield Guineas nominated Ready For Victory will bypass Sydney’s Golden Rose Stakes Saturday week and instead run the Mick Price-trained three-year-old in the Danehill Stakes 2015 at Flemington Racecourse.
Price’s progressive More Than Ready colt kicked off his spring at Caulfield Racecourse last weekend running a brave third when only a long-neck off the Peter Moody-trained Gold Symphony in the Gr.3 H.D.F. McNeil Stakes (1200m) and will stay on in Melbourne next start.
A winner in Victoria on debut taking out the Listed Festival of Racing 1000 (1000m) at Flemington before running fourth as 20/1 shot behind Vancouver in the Gr.1 Golden Slipper (1200m) at Rosehill where he veered sideways, Ready For Victory also raced in Sydney’s Group 1 ATC Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m) as a juvenile when seventh to Pride Of Dubai.
He handled the Melbourne way of racing well first-up in the McNeil Stakes and will return to the track where he enjoyed his debut victory on Makybe Diva Stakes Day, September 12, taking on a field of older rivals in the $200,000 Gr.2 Danehill Stakes (1200m).
The Danehill runs on the same day as the $1 million Group 1 Golden Rose (1400m) in Sydney, for which Ready For Victory is also nominated but that his owners at Eliza Park International have now ruled out for the up-and-comer.
Instead Ready For Victory is likely to get back to elite level racing at Caulfield on October 10 in the $1 million Gr.1 Caulfield Guineas (1600m).
“He’ll have had two 1200 (metre) races then he can go to 1400 metres in the Guineas Prelude and then onto the Guineas at a mile two weeks later,” Price confirmed to AAP, saying his owners would be in Melbourne to see him run in the Danehill Stakes.
The $175,000 Gr.3 Caulfield Guineas Prelude (1400m) runs on Underwood Stakes Day, September 26, and has produced four of the past six Caulfield Guineas winners.
The last three-year-old to complete the double was Helmet (2011), while more recently the fellow Peter Snowden-trained Long John (2013) ran third in the Prelude before his Caulfield Guineas success two years ago.
Early Caulfield Guineas odds for next month’s classic have the Gai Waterhouse-trained Vancouver ($5) and the Chris Waller-trained JJ Atkins champ Press Statement ($6) as the narrow favourites.
That duo will face off first in the Golden Rose, Press Statement $3.80 second pick behind the John O’Shea-trained Run To The Rose winner Exosphere ($2.90) to win, while Vancouver ($4.20) has slipped down to third in betting.
Ready For Victory meanwhile occupies the third line of futures Caulfield Guineas betting as the last of the single figure hopes at $7.