You often hear the phrase “we have no excuses” after a sub-par performance in sport.
But those in the Gary Portelli camp were always quietly confident their star colt Sejardan would bounce back from disappointment in the Melbourne leg of his spring preparation.
And that he most certainly did in stunning fashion last Saturday, producing an explosive late turn of foot to win the Red Anchor Stakes.
It is why Portelli’s staff have confidence the $20 outsider with online bookmakers can back up and again be competitive in his “grand final” – the Coolmore Stud Stakes over 1200m at Flemington on Saturday.
“He’s had a very easy week down at Flemington. He’s eating and drinking well, and he looks absolutely fantastic,” Portelli’s racing manager James Fathers told HorseBetting.com.au.
“From what we can tell he got through the run well and he’s ready to go again.”
While almost everyone who saw his last-start victory would have been left stunned with his late surge on the straight, Portelli and jockey Jamie Kah were not.
After the race, both said they believed the young sprinter would go on to run down Sweet Ride – who almost looked home after the turn – for Annabel Neasham.
“On the turn I knew the leader was a fair few lengths in front, but the feeling he gave me was he was never in doubt,” Kah said after the race.
Portelli was also adamant his young gun would do something special.
“With his length and strides he just picks them up. He was always going to win,” he said.
“Once he straightened up, I knew he was going to catch that leader because I could see the look in his eye.
“He just pins his ears back and he can do it. It’s all ahead of him.”
This level of belief came despite Sejardan finishing well out of the placings in the Roman Consul Stakes, Golden Rose Stakes and Run To The Rose all in Sydney, such is the talent he possesses.
Fathers also knew the colt was ready to show the racing world his maturity as a three-year-old in Melbourne.
“Whenever he hasn’t won there’s generally something that has gone wrong,” he said.
“He was caught wide in the Millennium on heavy ground and a pretty wet track.
“In the Slipper he had no luck when he was nearly knocked down.
“Into this campaign he was probably too far back in the Run To The Rose, wide without cover in the Golden Rose.
“And then he missed the start badly on a really wet track in the Roman Consul. And in the six races that day all the winners were in the first two.
“As soon as he wasn’t in the first two it was game over.
“So I think we were actually as confident as you could be for a horse who’s been beaten first three starts in his preparation and fourth-up going into the race at Moonee Valley.”
Portelli said this after Sejardan’s Red Anchor Stakes victory:
“I thought he was going to the Cox Plate this year, not for a 1200m race. We just thought he was the real deal.
“He came back from a spell and drew bad gates to start off his campaign in Sydney.
“He played up in the gates at Randwick where he couldn’t miss the start.”
So despite Portelli’s high hopes for his sprinter this spring, the stable also stayed patient with him.
“We could see he had plenty of excuses and we thought he was a horse who would come back better than he was at two and have plenty to offer,” Fathers said.
“It’s just taken that bit of time to get that luck and show his explosive turn of foot.
“He’s already a very well-credentialed horse for a job later on down the track.
“He’s a Breeders Plate and Golden Gift winner, a Todman Stakes winner – so he’s very precocious.
“And he’s come back and won at three which shows that he’s trained on.
“But when he got the opportunity on Saturday, he showed just how good he is.”
Fathers believes Sejardan can run a lot closer to Mick Price and Michael Kent Jr’s rapidly-developing superstar Jacquinot on Saturday.
This is despite finishing seventh and almost 3.5-lengths behind the Golden Rose Stakes winner over 1400m on September 24.
“It’s quite a wide open race. Jacquinot was a dominant winner in the Golden Rose,” Fathers said.
“But we’re mindful of the run we had that day – we were probably three wide for the trip.
“If we had a similar run to Jacquinot, you never know – we might’ve finished just as well as him.
“When we’ve had the opportunity to finish, Sejardan has finished off.
“And when he hasn’t this preparation it’s because something has gone wrong and he’s had genuine excuses.
“What you’ve got to bear in mind for a lot of these horses is they’ve been asked to peak for either a Golden Rose, Everest or whatever.
“It’s hard to keep these horses peaking and peaking again, and the form lines can change.
“But I think Sejardan has done plenty thus far both at two and now at three, and around the best horses has shown that he’s definitely top-class.”
He has proven he is a top-class sprinter and Sejardan will be ridden by a top-class jockey – John Allen – in the Coolmore Stud Stakes.
Things lined up perfectly after his Red Anchor Stakes victory.
“We didn’t have anyone booked last weekend because it wasn’t certain that we were going here,” Fathers said.
“We’d thought we’d leave it till the day of the race at Moonee Valley knowing that if he won it would help us to be able to get a better jockey than we otherwise would.
“It’s worked out well. Obviously Johnny has ridden plenty of Group 1 winners and he knows that course particularly well.
“Jamie was unfortunately committed to in Sydney, so it was no disrespect to Sejardan that she couldn’t stick with him.
“But we’ve got a pretty able pilot in Johnny Allen on Saturday.”
Fathers also believes $31 outsider Thinking Rain can compete well in the Wakeful Stakes over 2000m.
“It was a good run in the Reginald Allen at Randwick where she led them (last start on October 15). It was four or five weeks between runs, so she got very tired late in the last 50 after she led them up,” he said.
“She got run down by a few horses, but it was a very good run. If she had a run under her belt in the two weeks before that race she probably would’ve won.
“I think the step up to 2000 definitely suits. Being by So You Think, she’s a lovely big staying style of filly and so a slower tempo will suit.
“The concern for me is the wide gate (16) and the fact she manages to lead them up over 1400, which suggests that up to 2000 with the blinkers still on she’d have the speed to be up there.
“With a positive ride from Johnny Allen she should be able to find her way across, and be up there and keep herself out of trouble.”
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