Cover image courtesy of Bronwen Healy
Newgate is part of the ownership group in last season’s Group 1 winners Stay Inside (Extreme Choice), Captivant (Capitalist) and Artorius (Flying Artie), who will all return to action on Saturday.
Add the G2 BTC Sires’ Produce S. and G3 Up And Coming S. winner Tiger Of Malay (Extreme Choice) and R. Listed Inglis Millennium winner Profiteer (Capitalist) into the mix and it’s an arsenal stocked to the rafters.
Golden Slipper hero Stay Inside will clash at Kembla Grange with Champagne S. winner Captivant in what promises to be an epic edition of the G3 San Domenico S., which also features In The Congo (Snitzel), another of Newgate’s interests.
The Blue Diamond S. winner Artorius will make his seasonal debut in the G3 HDF McNeil S. at Caulfield.
Gallery: Some of Newgate's gallopers
While having three colts going head-to-head in the San Domenico may not be seen to be ideal, Field said it was unavoidable and he was relaxed about them taking each other on.
“The problem is that the programming in Sydney makes it impossible to split Group 1 winners up. The only way to the Golden Rose S. for a Group 1 winner is the San Domenico and the Run To The Rose given the way the weights and penalties are.
“The problem is that the programming in Sydney makes it impossible to split Group 1 winners up.” – Henry Field
“We really have no choice but to do this. In a perfect world we would split them up, however we would rather not compromise what will be their best pattern to get into their grand finals.
“It’s better than running them in unsuitable races. Tiger Of Malay went the only other direction through the Up And Coming S.”
Field is happy to see the other colts pitted against each other on their way to bigger and better seasonal targets.
Henry Field
“To be honest, I’m really not too worried about it. We’ve got two Group 1-winning colts lined up in the San Domenico. People want to gain respect for good horses and if they run good races without winning they will still earn respect,” he said.
“For example, a horse like Captivant has had one very soft trial and we wouldn’t be expecting in a million years for him to be winning. But if he is galloping through the line, people will say that was a good run from a horse that is a long way from being wound up.
“Stay Inside had a soft trial last week and his grand final is not until mid-October, he is a mile off being wound up.”
“Stay Inside had a soft trial last week and his grand final is not until mid-October, he is a mile off being wound up.” – Henry Field
While Field is expecting bold showings from his pair, he believes Godolphin’s Listed The Rosebud winner Paulele (Dawn Approach {Ire}) and Remarque (Snitzel), third in the Randwick event, to have the fitness edge.
“Paulele is a very good horse that’s tuned to the minute and is going to be very hard to beat. Any judge of form will probably tell you Paulele is a better betting proposition.
“If we see Stay Inside gallop through the line well, then he is on track for the main race we are targeting, which is The Everest in the middle of October, we will be genuinely pleased.
“To be perfectly frank, I would be surprised if he could beat Paulele. He’s got the score on the board and Remarque is a big talk-horse and obviously a colt with terrific talent.
“They are going to be at their top and I hope Stay Inside wins, but I don’t expect he will. I’m confident he will run a good race though.”
Climbing Everest
While the $15 million The TAB Everest is the goal for the Richard and Michael Freedman-trained Stay Inside, Peter and Paul Snowden’s Captivant has been set for the G1 Caulfield Guineas and In The Congo will be chasing shorter course prizes.
“That will be Captivant’s grand final and In The Congo will be kept to sprinting trips. I would suspect he will probably target the Roman Consul S.,” Field said.
In The Congo
The Anthony and Sam Freedman-prepared Artorius is also on a course toward the Caulfield Guineas.
“He’s a horse that is a long way from his top at the moment. He’s carrying a higher weight (59.5kg) on Saturday and drawn perhaps trickily in barrier three for his racing pattern,” Field said. “You would think he might be vulnerable.
“That’s fine and the name of the game is you’re not vulnerable when you get to the pointy end of the season. I expect a good showing from all the colts on Saturday, but I won’t be going into the day oozing with confidence. I just want to see them all run well.”
The Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr-trained Profiteer will make his 3-year-old debut in Group 1 weight-for-age company against the older horses.
“He will run first-up in the Moir S. on September 24. He will be absolutely tuned up and ready to go, as opposed to the other colts who will work their way into the spring,” Field said.
Profiteer
