Gary Portelli says Breeders’ Plate winner Sejardan has the right attributes to cope with an unorthodox preparation for the $1 million Golden Gift.
The Sebring colt has not raced since his impressive debut victory in the Breeders’ Plate (1000m) at Randwick on October 2 and will go into Saturday’s race with more than four weeks between runs.
It is a delicate balancing act to keep a two-year-old in work but not racing and Portelli is banking on Sejardan’s laidback demeanour and natural talent to get him through.
“He’s a tough bugger and it was no fluke what he did,” Portelli said.
“He’s a fairly straightforward horse to deal with and he only uses energy when he needs to, so I’ve been able to put the squeeze on him when I need to and back off him when I need to as well.”
Sejardan was given a race day outing at Canterbury last Wednesday when he stretched his legs with an exhibition gallop between races.
He came from back in the field and charged home to capture the Breeders’ Plate and the distance rise to 1100 metres in the Golden Gift shapes as a more suitable assignment.
But Portelli admits holding a young horse together for so long is a challenge and he won’t know until after the race if he has got the balance right.
“I’ll tell you after the Gift. I’ll either be a genius, or I shouldn’t have done it to him,” he said.
“Hopefully there is $1 million worth of reasons why we kept him going.”