Group 3 winner Grand Impact is ready to get his career back on track in the Hareeba Stakes (1200m) at Mornington on Saturday.
Grand Impact burst onto the racing scene in spring 2022, winning his first three starts including the G3 Blue Sapphire Stakes on a Heavy track at Caulfield.
His co-trainers Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr then threw him in the deep end when they ran him in the G1 Coolmore Stud Stakes and he finished 12th, but only 5.25 lengths adrift of winner In Secret.
He then didn’t race again until a month ago, when he finished fifth behind Extratwo over 1200 metres at The Valley on March 23, with Price saying at the time that the four-year-old stallion would improve with the run.
“He was always going to be vulnerable with his race fitness and that tightened him up nicely,” Kent Jnr said of the performance.
“We’ve given him a month between runs to get fitter and he’s going quite well at home.”
Kent Jnr pointed out that Grand Impact is still an entire and can still be a bit wayward.
“We’d like to see him do it on race day still. We’re happy with the horse but we’d love a bit of rain,” he said.
The stable will also saddle up the five-year-old mare Party For One, who will also be suited by a wet track according to Kent Jnr.
