Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr are hoping to keep Boniface, a dual-nominated galloper, racing in Sydney this Saturday, provided the lightly raced horse can secure a start in their preferred race.
The former French galloper holds a domestic rating of 81, placing him 16th in the order of entry for the Premier’s Cup Prelude (1800m) at Randwick, which has a field limit of 13 runners.
If the Northern Hemisphere four-year-old makes the field, Michael Kent Jnr is confident the horse is ready to perform at his best, especially if he gets to race on a firmer surface.
“He’s more likely going to be racing in Sydney in the Premier’s Cup Prelude and then hopefully onto the Premier’s Cup,” Kent Jnr said.
“I hope he gets a run but you never quite know with a low rating, and we always just hedge our bets.
“It’s a free nomination in Melbourne, you can easily travel down here if you have to. But if we could get a run in Sydney, that would be the go.
“I was up there during the week, it’s fine and sunny, and it’s fine and sunny all week, which will be very different to last start where he was on a heavy 25 at Randwick so he won’t know himself.”
Despite a layoff of nearly a year before his local debut in May at Sandown Hillside, Kent Jnr indicated the horse has come to hand quickly, achieving two second-place finishes in Benchmark 88 races leading into Saturday.
“He’s ready to win,” Kent Jnr stated.
“I would say he has hit the ground running much faster than a lot of imports, he’s taken to life in Australia quite well.
“Importantly he’s got to turn a foot for a horse that wants to get over 2,000 metres. It was a very good run at Sandown, and then he’s run two excellent seconds in Sydney running on both times.
“The only trick with him, he wants to be a little bit keen in running, so it’s just about switching him off and then letting him rip home.
“Tyler Schiller sticks, down the weights, and it’ll be a nice race for him.”
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