Even if Fireburn “looks bad” on the track, it won’t worry the Gary Portelli stable before her grand final in two weeks – the Golden Rose.
The brilliant three-year-old filly has been her usual laidback self in work leading into Saturday’s $250,000 Run To The Rose (1200m) at Rosehill.
This will be her first start since her unforgettable autumn last year saw her salute in the Sweet Embrace Stakes, Golden Slipper and Inglis Sires’ Produce Stakes, before being pipped at the post by She’s Extreme in the Champagne Stakes.
Fireburn certainly has not scorched through both her trials leading into Saturday.
She finished ninth from 10 runners at Rosehill on August 12, and fifth from a field of 10 at Warwick Farm on August 29.
This has not worried the Portelli stable one bit.
In fact, it mirrored her modest trial form late last year before she shocked racing fans all over Australia and went so close to winning the Triple Crown.
“It’s a little bit tricky with Fireburn because she doesn’t work that well, and she doesn’t trial that well,” Portelli’s stable manager James Fathers told HorseBetting.com.au.
“Last year we probably noticed how bad it was because going into the Slipper our expectations weren’t that high. But she just kept improving.
“Whereas she’s probably been under the spotlight a bit more and everybody’s been watching her in her trials, and probably taking a bit more notice of what she’s doing.
“But we see she’s going no worse than she was before the Slipper last year.
“She’s moving really well, has a very good coat and looks stronger than she was last year.
“We certainly can say she hasn’t taken a backward step.”
Stablemate and fellow three-year-old Sejardan will also be first-up in the Run To The Rose on Saturday.
And like Fireburn, his form in work has been consistent. But he loves to impress in practise runs and trials, and he has been doing this.
The colt won his trial over 787m at Warwick Farm on August 29, edging out Bacchanalia for the James Cummings stable.
“Sejardan probably gives you a little more confidence because he has been trialing really well,” Fathers said.
“He’s been working really sharply.”
Sejardan was also out-pacing Fireburn in trackwork before his Breeders’ Plate and Golden Gift wins in October and November last year.
Which reiterates the confidence the Portelli stable has in Fireburn and her ability to lift on race day.
“Although Sejardan was up and going and was second in the Breeders’ Plate trial and then won the Breeders’ Plate, Fireburn was doing nothing at this stage,” Fathers said.
“So it just shows that it doesn’t really matter when they’re going – as long as you’re doing the right thing by the horse and they’re in work at the time it suits them.”
Fathers said the mood in the Portelli stable was a constant buoyant one after the success of both Sejardan and Fireburn last year.
Sejardan also won the Todman Stakes at Randwick on March 5, after he triumphed in successive Breeders’ Plate and Golden Gift starts at Randwick and Rosehill.
“It’s been fantastic, especially with both in the same year,” Fathers said.
“It’s funny how it all happened because Sejardan was the horse people were talking about going into the Slipper.
“And there was a role reversal late when she got luck and he didn’t.
“It’s great for the stable. You watch these races every year hoping to have a horse who can compete in them, so to have that is very exciting.
“I love racing and I love watching these races anyway, even if we didn’t have a runner or two in them.
“But it’s a lot more exciting when you’ve got two red-hot chances.”
Fathers said Portelli – also the 2017 winning Golden Slipper trainer with She Will Reign – has a rare ability to identify talented two-year-olds.
“I think the thing with Gaz is everything he buys he’s aiming to run at two,” he said.
“Although we don’t have loads of horses, if a lot of the horses you buy are two-year-old types, you’ve got a lot more chances at having two-year-old success.
“Everything we look at, the first thing Gary says is ‘can this thing get up and running at two? Is it athletic? It can’t be too heavy’.
“And because we’re not overly big, we’ve got the luxury of being able to shuffle through all our horses.
“The really big stables probably have a backlog of lots of two-year-olds to get through, but also unraced three-year-olds to get through.
“Whereas we’re smaller, so Gary can get them all in at the right time. They all come in for a prep early around April-May time, have a look at them and work out if they’re going to be early types.”
Fathers said he was looking forward to upcoming trial runs where a stack of two-year-olds have the chance to impress Portelli’s stable staff.
“There are a heap of nice horses,” he said.
“The pecking order does change quite a lot. Monday-week is the two-year-old trials, and the pecking order changes well day-to-day with what gallops well and what doesn’t.
“With these young horses it’s all about timing.
“We’ve got about 10 two-year-olds who are all on track to be trialing Monday week.”
Meanwhile, Fathers said another talented three-year-old – Snitcat – was back on track after finishing third at Hawkesbury on Thursday.
“She ran at Hawkesbury and she went around in the fillies’ (11th from 14 in the Silver Shadow Stakes at Randwick on August 20) and was a bit fresh,” he said.
“So we dropped her back to 1100m at Hawkesbury. She ran really well, but just had a wide draw.
“She got back on speed and got a little bit tired late. She ran third, so I think we’re probably back on track with her.”
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