A bold debut at Caulfield on Saturday has put Public Attention on a potential pathway towards the Group 1 Caulfield Guineas (1600m) at the same venue in October.
Despite starting at $16 odds with horse racing bookmakers, the New Zealand-bred colt was held in high regard by trainers Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr as he prepared to kick off his career.
Public Attention justified his stable’s faith, settling three wide in fourth before warming into his work in the straight. He slowly but surely surged past the front-running Band Of Brothers and Azeele, hitting the lead in the final 50m and stretching out to score by just under half a length from the late-finishing Ndola.
“The fact that we gave him his first start here today on a Saturday, against some good horses with proven form, gives you an idea of what we felt about this colt,” Price said.
“We want him qualified for the better races that are coming up.
“I would be going towards the Caulfield Guineas with him. He’s a beautiful, clean-winded horse.
“He was a bit of a lighter, backward type of yearling when we bought him in New Zealand, and it probably took him 15 months before he started to morph into a real colt. But if you look at him now, he’s a beautiful horse.
“Our pre-race thoughts were that he’s a black-type horse in the making, so that’s the direction we’ll be heading.”
Public Attention was ridden to Saturday’s debut victory by Ethan Brown, who was impressed with his mount’s performance.
“I think he’s well and truly a Guineas horse,” he said. “He’s a very nice colt. He covered a fair bit of ground today, but at the same time, I think he appreciated that bit of room.
“He’s only going to improve. I heard that he was a bit of a handful while he was getting saddled up, but he switched on once I got on his back. He knew what his job was. He’ll definitely take improvement from this and should go on to measure up in better races.”
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