Gary Portelli and Jason Collett combined with Encap ($7.50) claiming victory in the Group 2 Theo Marks Stakes (1300m) at Rosehill on Saturday, marking a year to the day of his last victory coming in the 2023 Ming Dynasty Quality (1400m).
The son of Capitalist was second-up after a gallant first-up display behind Jolistar in the Group 3 Show County Quality (1200m) at Randwick on August 24.
He was made to work for the victory in a blanket finish on Saturday, however, with Bases Loaded ($4.00) showing a clean pair of heels in the final 400m despite leading out at a relatively strong tempo.
Rediener ($34.00) and Boom Torque ($6.00) were both doing sensational work late, but were unable to reel in Encap, chalking up just his second win heading into his four-year-old season.
Gary Portelli was delighted with the victory in his post-race assessment and suggested the $10 million Golden Eagle (1500m) would be the main target this time in.
“Yeah, just good to see him bounce back,” said Portelli.
“He was a bit plain first up, but a good gallop last Saturday. I’ve done very little with him all week and I was just hoping.
“He’s been a bit of a giant killer in his career like he’s beaten some real quality horses over the time. And now he feels like he might be stepping into his own after a big win like that.
“You know we’re aiming toward a Golden Eagle so I think we’re in good order right now, so what does the path look like to get there? Well probably we’ll sit down there and work out the program now after seeing what he’s done today.”
Jason Collett wasn’t sure if Encap had the capacity to get by Bases Loaded in the home straight, but was impressed with the performance before suggesting the Golden Eagle must be the target this spring.
“I knew I’d have a good turn of foot late,” said Collett.
“I must admit, Bases Loaded did kick pretty well then kept kicking as I got close.
“You’ve got to aim there as a four-year-old, that’s the race, and this is a good starting point to get towards it. He’s quite small and a bit unassuming, you look at him and there’s not a great deal of him but he’s starting to fill into that small frame. His ability, he’s got a lot of it, and that was great to see today.”
Encap is now considered a $26.00 chance with horse racing bookmakers for the Golden Eagle on November 2.
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