By Craig Kerry
Warwick Farm trainer Gary Portelli believes his patient approach with unbeaten bargain buy Verona Rose has paid off and she can now show her group 1 potential on Saturday in the Vinery Stud Stakes (2000m).
The daughter of Castelvecchio and Minamya, Verona Rose was a $40,000 buy for Portelli at the 2023 Inglis Classic Yearling Sale and has won close to $200,000 from three wins, thanks mostly to her swooping finish to take out the group 3 Kembla Grange Classic (1600m) last start on March 14.
Gary Portelli with Encap, which runs in the Doncaster Prelude on Saturday.Credit: Wolter Peeters
She started off with provincial wins over 1300m and 1350m, but Portelli always believed she would excel over further.
A $13 chance in the group 1 for three-year-old fillies at Rosehill, she gets her opportunity to prove him right ahead of a shot at the Australian Oaks in two weeks at Randwick. Kerrin McEvoy is aboard again and she has gate six.
“It’s one of those cases where you buy a horse and everyone makes a prediction on what you’re hoping for, and one of the things I said was this could be our Oaks filly, based on her pedigree,” Portelli said.
“She had a real stayer’s pedigree, and I love the stallion. I thought there was potential for him to be a top-liner and I just liked the way she got around.
“I said let’s just give her some time. Most of the owners had shares in other horses in my stable. I said you concentrate of those ones while I let this one develop.
“It’s only a $40,000 horse so it cost them next to nothing, so there was no pressure to perform early, and at this stage everything is going to plan.”
Two of her victories have come on soft 5 tracks, but she is yet to run on heavy going, which she could face on Saturday if forecast rain arrives.
“She seems to have that action that I think is conducive to soft and dry, but you never know how they’ll go on heavy tracks until you try them,” he said.
“And you don’t know what you’re up against until you take them on. They are coming through different form references and my filly is sort of sliding through the back door into first grade now.
“It’s a big test for her this weekend, but to my eye she looks worthy of a chance at a group 1 race, and I’m looking forward to the challenge because everything I see at home tells me she’s up to the task, so I’m really excited about putting her out there.
“I’ve got some really good, loyal clients in her and I love the journey they are on. I’ve sort of been there, done that and for me, it’s still exciting, but for them, they can’t sleep at night they are that excited. And I enjoy that.”
The chase for group 1 glory on Saturday puts Verona Rose against VRC Oaks champion Treasurethe Moment, which is chasing a seventh consecutive win.
“This [Treasurethe Moment] is the best three-year-old filly in Australia, no doubt, as a stayer, middle-distance horse,” Portelli said.
“Chris Waller’s got a couple that go all right as well, but at 2000m this is probably the best filly we are going to race against, and it’s a good test.”
Also on Saturday, Portelli has Encap lining up in the group 3 Doncaster Prelude (1500m). The four-year-old finished seventh in a class-packed Canterbury Stakes first up and has been well supported into $10 for the key Doncaster lead-up.
Portelli said Encap was in good order but may not run if the track was heavy.
“Nash [Rawiller] came and galloped him Tuesday morning and he was rapt with the way he worked,” he said.
“We are looking to get a better track than soft with him. I think he’s a lot better horse on top of the ground.
“He’s on a Doncaster path and if he didn’t run up to expectations on Saturday and you had to blame the track, it puts you in a bad position. You have to get into the race to start, and you don’t want to go into it off a run with a question mark over it. There’s a little bit of a worry there.”
