Chris and Corey Munce have had to stay patient throughout the Melbourne Spring Carnival, with their reliable gelding Payline enduring a run of misfortune since travelling south.
The father-and-son team have saddled Payline across four Melbourne metropolitan tracks since arriving in late August, but luck in running has been hard to come by throughout the campaign.
Payline gets another chance to break through when he lines up in The Damien Oliver (1400m) at Flemington on Saturday, his fifth start in Victoria this spring.
Justin Huxtable handled the first three Melbourne runs before Blake Shinn rode the gelding last time out. This weekend, Craig Williams takes over after partnering Payline in a pleasing hit-out at Flemington on Tuesday.
Chris Munce said the horse continues to race well but simply needs clear galloping room at the right time.
“He’s had four runs down here and he’s run into a bit of traffic on all occasions,” Munce said.
“He’s in terrific order. He galloped well at Flemington on Tuesday morning and the big track over 1400 metres, I’m hoping it will suit him.”
Payline’s first trio of Melbourne appearances came over shorter trips before stepping to 1400m when finishing fourth behind Private Eye in the Moonga Stakes at Caulfield on October 18.
Earlier in the season, the gelding ran a strong fifth in the 1400m Stradbroke Handicap at Eagle Farm, and Munce believes time and maturity have made the extra trip a genuine asset.
“The 1400 metres probably suits, and he could get a mile, the way he is going,” Munce said.
“I don’t fear the 1400 (metres) the way he went the other day. He’s handling his workload and he’s doing well down here.”
A performance this weekend will determine whether Payline backs up into the Champions Mile (1600m) seven days later, although Munce also has Brisbane summer targets in mind.
“If he put them away very easily, maybe we could back-up, but he’s still got a few races ahead of him in Brisbane during the summer,” he said.
“He’s a Magic Millions horse. He won the $1 million syndicate race up there last year, so there’s plenty of races up there he can run in.”
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