Price Tag may have disappointed punters as the favorite in her first two starts, but trainer Sam Freedman is urging patience with the promising filly ahead of her return this Saturday.
The Zoustar filly is set to compete in the $250,000 Blue Diamond Fillies Preview, which will take place at Sandown Lakeside due to the temporary closure of Caulfield following the recent grandstand fire.
This 1000-metre Group 3 event marks Price Tag’s first outing away from Flemington. Her previous two races resulted in a third-place finish in the Maribyrnong Trial Stakes (1000m) and a fourth in the Maribyrnong Plate (1000m). Freedman believes the switch to a course with a bend will suit her better.
“She was very green, she didn’t know a lot and was running down the straight,” Freedman said about her debut campaign.
“Both times she was wayward, looking for a rail or looking for a bend.
“We’ve noticed she’s been better out of the barriers this preparation, she’s taken a forward position, and I think around a bend she’s going to be much more effective.”
Price Tag, who is out of Humma Humma and a half-sister to the $2.8 million Snitzel colt sold at Magic Millions, has shown improvement in recent jumpouts. She claimed victory in a 700m jumpout at Mornington on New Year’s Eve and was narrowly beaten in an 800m trial at the Caulfield Heath track last Wednesday.
The Blue Diamond Fillies Preview serves as the starting point for a campaign aimed at the $2 million Group 1 Blue Diamond Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield on February 22.
“She’s a lot stronger, she’s strengthened right up, but she’s carrying good condition, so she’ll improve with every run,” Freedman, who trains alongside his father Anthony, explained.
“She’ll need a bit of condition to get through the campaign, whether it be the (Blue Diamond) series or whether she goes up to Sydney for the Millennium will just depend on how she goes next week.”
Price Tag is among 25 entries for the Fillies Preview and one of four nominations from the Freedman stable, which also includes Bubion, Expulsion, and Inkaruna. Other notable entries are Merson Cooper Stakes winner Palm Angel, Blue Diamond favorite Cherish Me, and Cavalry Girl, who recently triumphed at Flemington after finishing second in the Geelong Diamond.
In the $250,000 Listed Preview for colts and geldings, the Freedman stable will be represented by Tentyris. The field features Maribyrnong Trial and Maribyrnong Plate placegetter Shining Smile and nine unraced contenders in the 13 possible entries.
