Peter and Paul Snowden have been late-comers to the European market, but the results from the last year tell you they are getting it right and Old Flame is set to add that success in The Gong at Kembla Grange on Saturday.
Old Flame was only their second purchase from Europe and is already a success, having won the group 2 Linlithgow Stakes at Flemington. The Gong is the crescendo to his preparation and gives him a further chance for return on investment with its $1million purse.
Old Flame races away with the Linlithgow Stakes during the Flemington carnival.Credit:Getty
The son of Invincible Spirit follows in the footsteps of Huetor, which won the group 1 Doomben Cup for the Snowdens during the winter and is being set for next month’s The Ingham at Randwick.
“We have a handful of them now [Europeans] but the first two have set a high standard,” co-trainer Paul Snowden said. “They are both handy horses and we have been careful with how we have placed them and got a group 1 and group 2 with them.
“Huetor missed the spring because of a little problem, but we will trial him next week and look to The Ingham, but I think this bloke is at a very similar level to him. It is just about finding the right races with them, and I think we have.”
Old Flame is the $5 favourite for The Gong after the Snowdens resisted the surge to test him at group 1 level in the Champions Mile at Flemington to focus on the Kembla feature. It quickly became apparent with Old Flame that he needed dry ground, which the Snowdens realised after he won first up at Rosehill in August.
“The wet tracks are probably why we are here. We didn’t want to run him on a wet track, so we have had to wait for the right conditions,” Snowden said.
“He has been in work a long time but he has only had the four runs, so he comes here at his peak. It’s interesting with these Europeans that they like to be in the stable and have their races spaced.
“They actually thrive on being in the stable and the routine around that, and because of that he is just getting better. We could have easily gone to the Champions Mile because we feel he is up to that level, but we decided that can wait until next year. If he had a normal program he might have been in a group 1 this time in and not in this race, but this is worth $1million on Saturday, so it makes it an important race.”
Snowden is confident despite drawing barrier 19 that Old Flame can show his class at Kembla, where Hope In Your Heart, Brutality and the Big Dance winner Rustic Steel are considered his main rivals.
“He is in very good order, physically and mentally; he is at the peak of his powers,” Snowden said. “The draw, honestly, doesn’t worry me that much. He just needs to get in and have a nice run to be in the finish. This is the grand final, and you only have one of those.
“We will stop after The Gong because you have to stop somewhere. He can have a break and we think he will be a very good horse in the autumn.
“It will be a little head freshen for him, hopefully after another good performance.”
