Craig Kerry
Adam Hyeronimus welcomed a draw not too close to the inside rail for Headley Grange when the Joe Pride-trained galloper attempts to become just the third horse to win the Kingsford Smith Cup-Stradbroke Handicap double on Saturday at Eagle Farm.
Hyeronimus made the most of gate three in the 1300m Kingsford Smith Cup two weeks ago at the track, giving the five-year-old an economical run in the weight-for-age test to edge out Jimmysstar and Fangirl.
It was maiden group 1 for Headley Grange and first at the elite level for Hyeronimus in Queensland.
The combination drew gate eight, which will be seven of 18 without scratchings, for Saturday’s $3 million Queensland winter carnival headline handicap over 1400m.
And with Eagle Farm a heavy 8 on Friday and Headley Grange winning seven of 15 starts on rain-affected going, Hyeronimus was pleased with the middle draw. If successful, the $5.50 TAB favourite will join Pride-trained Think About It (2023) and Bob Thomsen’s Thorn Park (2004) as Kingsford Smith-Stradbroke winners in the same year.
“He’s drawn lovely so he’ll just be able to, if he can begin well, we’ll just let the race unfold for us and that draw should blend us into a nice position,” said Hyeronimus, who has seven wins from 10 rides on Headley Grange.
“Obviously, it’s good not being too close to the fence by that time of the day, and I’m sure from that barrier, we won’t be.
“We’ll be around the right horses. It’s a very competitive race, and it looks to be setting up well for him.”
The seven-time group 1-winning jockey was at Rosehill on Stradbroke Handicap day the past two years, taking out the feature Winter Cup on Sir Lucan. This year he has two group 1 chances at Eagle Farm after also picking up the job on Silken Salute ($41) in the JJ Atkins (1600m).
“It’s a bit of a tricky thing for Sydney jockeys going up and back each week, unless you have decent rides,” he said.
“It’s just hard to really make it worthwhile when the prizemoney and the racing is so good here during the winter.
“I’ve been very, very fortunate that Headley Grange has been in the right races that I’ve been able to ride him in, and he got a good barrier the other day and everything panned out well. And for him to do it at weight for age was a big tick for him.
“It’s always very competitive when you’re in these sorts of races, but the biggest advantage he has is he comes back to handicap conditions. But there’s a few others that are very competitive and very good racehorses, and they get that sort of weight relief as well.”
Headley Grange has 55kg for the Stradbroke but Hyeronimus was declared to ride him over that, at 55.5kg. He said he was tracking well with his weight but had no choice but to ride at 55.5kg. In NSW, jockeys can ride at the allocated weight after earlier declaring a heavier one. In Queensland, they must stick to the declared weight.
At Rosehill, Bjorn Baker-trained Thebudgiesmugla was a $2.40 favourite for the Winter Cup, this year called the Queen Elizabeth II Cup, after being scratched from the Brisbane Cup.
Maher confirms Crown Lodge move
Premier Victorian trainer Ciaron Maher confirmed on Friday his operation’s move into Godolphin’s former stables at Warwick Farm, Crown Lodge, and not Leilani Lodge at Randwick.
It had been widely speculated Maher would move into the 125-box Crown Lodge, which Racing NSW was expected to buy from global powerhouse Godolphin following its switch from a private training model to a public one this season.
A year ago, Maher won the race to secure the 59-box Leilani Lodge, the former stables of legendary trainer Bart Cummings and his family. The Herald understands Maher agreed to pay for six-figure refurbishments at Leilani Lodge. He took over the lease there in late April and moved out of his other Australian Turf Club-owned stables at Warwick Farm but had not yet used Leilani Lodge.
In a statement on Friday, Maher said Crown Lodge would become his flagship NSW operation and he would relinquish Leilani Lodge. The ATC is set to ask for expressions of interests again for the Randwick stables.
Slow and steady for Portelli’s hot prospect
Warwick Farm trainer Gary Portelli is keen to avoid another “Encap situation” with exciting two-year-old Friendly Fire, which will chase back-to-back Saturday Sydney wins.
The Farnan gelding was a $1.55 shot to take out the 1400m two-year-old to open the Rosehill program on Saturday after fighting back to win over 1200m at Randwick three weeks ago. He was second before that in the Inglis Challenge at Wagga on debut.
Portelli has steered away from a stakes-level test for Friendly Fire and instead used the two-kilogram claim of apprentice Siena Grima to get him down to 57kg for another Saturday handicap. He said the path of group 1 placegetter Encap, a winner just twice from 31 starts, was in his thoughts as he sought to maximise returns while taking Friendly Fire through the grades.
“Sydney prizemoney is amazing, plus BOBS bonus, it’s worth $100,000 every time they go around on a Saturday, so if you can as many of them as you can before they go to first grade, you are better off,” Portelli said.
“Hopefully, if he can keep stepping up in grade, we won’t have a similar situation to the one we had with Encap. He won his maiden at stakes grade and he’s been struggling to win a race since.
“This bloke will get the opportunity to knock over as many wins as we can before we have a crack at anything decent.”
Friendly Fire was impressive on a soft 7 track last start and Portelli said he would perform well again on likely better going on Saturday.
“I thought he fought back strongly the other day on a wet track and I think he’s just as effective on top of the ground,” Portelli said.
“He will more than likely have a break after this, or we will have to look interstate if we want to go again because the spring carnival is only around the corner, and it is a quantum leap to spring carnival quality.
“Everyone hopes to get there, but he might be more an autumn horse. He’s still very immature.”
He also has Mother Goose ($4.40) in the next race, the Midway handicap, after a ninth first-up on a heavy track.
“She does like it wet, but I feel that track was very gluey and sticky and she didn’t have race fitness, and that brought us unstuck,” he said.
“Bouncing off a heavy track back to a good track, that can be a recipe for disaster, but she does get better into her prep.”
