By Craig Kerry
Trainer Joe Pride believes Accredited will be better again next preparation after he effortlessly overcame what jockey Josh Parr called “bizarre circumstances” to make it three on the trot on Saturday at Randwick.
A $1.50 favourite in the five-horse benchmark 88 handicap over 1400m, Accredited charged to the lead from gate one but was then headed by Ang Pow, which made a sustained run three wide under Molly Bourke to cross.
Josh Parr after winning on Joe Pride-trained Accredited at Randwick on Saturday.Credit: Getty Images
Parr, who had a winning treble on the day, was able to come around Ang Pow soon after to lead again on the bend before Accredited, now with six wins in 13 starts, powered to an almost four-length victory.
“It seemed like there was a little bit of aggressive riding against him, and you expect that,” Pride said.
“You are not going to get any races handed to you here in Sydney. Small fields can make that quite tricky at times, but Josh obviously handled him really well and the horse adapted to a different situation again, which is good for him going forward.”
Pride said the five-year-old had thrived on dry tracks this preparation and would be better again next time in. He was unsure if Accredited would go for a spell but ruled out a shot next week at the $500,000 The Lakes (1600m) at Wyong.
“I’d like to find another race like that, a five-horse field, that doesn’t happen very often, so we’ll see how he pulls up,” he said.
Parr said: “I had to ride the race on three different horses then, and he was able to overcome some bizarre circumstances, and then he put them away quite well.”
Parr made it a double when Bjorn Baker-trained Disneck again came from well back to blitz his rivals. It was three wins for the Trapeze Artist gelding at Randwick across three weeks.
Parr was aboard on December 14, but he was riding at Eagle Farm last week when Zac Lloyd took Disneck to victory. After watching Lloyd’s post-win video to connections, Parr responded with some friendly banter.
“Obviously Zac Lloyd got the sit and steer job last week when we handballed it to him, but we got the main jockey on again this week and I got the job done,” Parr quipped.
Gerald Ryan and Sterling Alexiou’s Amazing Eagle, which missed Tuesday’s Gosford Guineas because of a heel injury, was a late scratching on vets advice on Saturday when found to be two-fifths lame in the off-fore leg.
Parr’s treble came with a well-timed run between runners on Unlimited, which gave top trainer Chris Waller a double. Autumnmation earlier won for Waller with a front-running ride from Reece Jones.
LEES COLT ON MILLENNIUM PATH
Newcastle trainer Kris Lees will head to the $2 million Inglis Millennium (1100m) at Randwick on February 8 with added confidence after Rivellino easily won on debut at the track.
The Too Darn Hot colt, a $180,000 buy for Lees Racing and Bahen Bloodstock, started a $3.60 Sportsbet favourite in an open 1000m two-year-olds maiden after the scratching of $1.4 million purchase Devil Night.
Rivellino races away to win on debut at Randwick.Credit: Getty Images
Rivellino sat off a willing battle up front before cruising past The Magic Man at the 100m and winning by almost two lengths.
Lees foreman Cameren Swan said Rivellino, which was fourth at home then first at Rosehill in trials, had untapped potential.
“The first trial he wasn’t ready, he was in a really quick trial, and he was all at sea, but he took a lot of benefit from that into his next trial, and he’s come on again,” Swan said.
“Where his ceiling is, I don’t know, but he did everything right today.”
The effort moved three-kilogram claimer Ben Osmond to 13 city wins for the season, now three behind Sydney apprentices’ premiership leader Zac Wadick.
“Barrier two definitely helped and he behaved really good today,” Osmond said.
“He had the pony to the gates, and he can be a bit cheeky at home, so it was good he came here and was quite professional.”
BAKER FILLIES ON FIRE
The Bjorn Baker stable place Perfumist alongside unbeaten Magic Millions Guineas-bound fillies Arriving Home and Dance To The Boom, and she lived up to expectations on Saturday at Randwick.
The Kiwi-bred filly led and raced away with the benchmark 78 handicap to make it four from eight in her career. It was a first city winner for jockey Winona Costin this season.
Winona Costin, on Perfumist, lands her first city winner this season.Credit: Getty Images
The Baker stable will have Gosford Guineas winner Dance To The Boom and possibly Arriving Home in next Saturday’s $3 million Guineas. Arriving Home was scratched from Randwick and the Sunshine Coast, where the opening Magic Millions day was transferred, on Saturday in the hope she would still sneak into the field. She was 21st in the ballot before Saturday for the 18-horse field.
Baker stable representative Glen Lobb said “there’s not a struck match between” the trio.
“There today she showed she’s got another string to her bow, because we’ve never led on her and we were worried if she kicked away, she might pull up and wait for them, but she just raced away,” Lobb said.
Disneck’s win gave the stable a double.
OLIVE MARE BRINGS THE NOISE
The biggest cheer at Randwick on Saturday came when Nick Olive-trained Moritz Girl went one better in the Highway Handicap.
The Maurice four-year-old mare, a $22,500 buy online for the Queanbeyan trainer last year after going for $350,000 as a yearling, was strong to the line for a two-thirds of a length win. It came two weeks after she finished second by a quarter-length to In Summer at the track.
A group of about 25 owners cheered the house down as Kerrin McEvoy drove Moritz Girl to victory, her fourth overall and second for Olive.
The trainer was unsure of the next target for Moritz Girl, which is ineligible for the Country Championships because of the recent stable move and is now out of Highway grade.
