Mick Price & Michael Kent Jnr are set to chase back-to-back titles in the Listed Cranbourne Cup (1600m), with lightly raced galloper Sabaj their sole nominee for Saturday’s feature.
The four-year-old made an immediate impression at his Victorian debut, surging clear to win a benchmark 84 event by 1.8 lengths on Champions Day. Before joining the stable, he had already shown stakes-level ability, having finished Group 2 placed behind stablemate Reserve Bank while trained by Richard & Chantelle Jolly in Adelaide.
Kent Jnr believes the son of Manhattan Rain can take a similar path to Globe, who won last year’s Cranbourne Cup before progressing to the Group 1 Might And Power Stakes (2000m) this spring.
“The Cranbourne Cup is the logical race for him,” Kent Jnr said.
“A mile, on his doorstep. The timing’s good, our only concern would be the tight track. He’s a get back, run on, big striding horse.”
The stable had originally intended to run Sabaj on Melbourne Cup Day but elected to scratch due to conditions, a call Kent Jnr remains convinced was correct.
“I’m still glad we scratched him on the Tuesday,” Kent Jnr said.
“It ended up being a soft five only, but I don’t think we would have won.”
“We had an inside draw, and by race ten on Cup Day, they were all coming in the middle and the way Persian Spirit won down the outside, we would have been in traffic, whereas the wide draw on Saturday was the perfect set up.”
“We didn’t know if he’d get a wet track, but we took the positive view that we’re here to learn and find out.”
A tilt at the Group 1 Railway Stakes (1600m) was briefly discussed following Sabaj’s debut win, but that option was ruled out with the gelding positioned 41st in the order of entry.
“He’s very progressive, he’ll get his chance.”
Sabaj sits among 27 nominations for the $500,000 Cranbourne Cup, with Group 2 winner Warnie heading the list as the highest-rated entry and one of four potential contenders for Ciaron Maher.
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