The Godolphin gelding Pericles has demonstrated the wisdom of bypassing a Melbourne race in favour of a sprint closer to home, achieving a narrow victory in the Russell Balding Stakes.
Trainer Bjorn Baker and the Godolphin team faced a dilemma: should they head south for the Damien Oliver (1400m) at Flemington or take their chances in a competitive renewal of Saturday’s Russell Balding Stakes (1300m) at Randwick? They ultimately opted for the latter.
Their choice proved sound as Pericles, a $17 outsider, found a path along the inside under Dylan Gibbons, getting the better of Headwall ($4.60) by three-quarters of a length. The winner’s stablemate, Caballus ($17), finished a further neck back in third position.
“From the minute he was transferred to Bjorn he made a lot of commentary about how fast he was, and I think we’ve seen that today,” remarked Jason Walsh, Godolphin’s racing and bloodstock manager.
“He’s obviously had two six furlong runs in preparation for it, and he looked pretty well at home the other day.”
“He’s a very, very talented animal. His distance range is somewhere up to a mile. He’s taken us to a lot of big days, and it’s great to get a result like that in such a lucrative race.”
While Pericles has proven capable of winning up to 1800m, Baker has strategically trained him with speed in mind for the beginning of his campaign.
This approach yielded impressive results, evidenced by his winning time of 1:14.05, which eclipsed the track record previously held by Trapeze Artist since 2019.
Walsh noted that given Saturday’s run was only the horse’s third of the campaign, consideration would be given to several potential targets, including the C F Orr Stakes (1400m) at Sandown on November 14.
“We were talking about the C F Orr from here,” Walsh confirmed. “A little bit may depend on if Beiwacht is turning up there as well. But that’s probably the next option without pre-empting what we might do. He’s a great horse.”
Jimmysstar, the $3.80 favourite, experienced a moderate tempo that did not favour the backmarker, according to jockey Ethan Brown.
“Race shape against,” Brown stated.
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