From the time two slot races were announced by Southside Racing, the Robbie Griffiths and Mathew de Kock stable knew they wanted to be a part of it.
Griffiths was born and bred in the Cranbourne area and was one of the first to establish a barn at the Cranbourne Training Centre when it first opened.
And when the Cranbourne Turf Club and Pakenham Racing Club merged to form Southside Racing earlier in the year, Griffiths could only see positives.
One positive is the first of two $1 million slot races, The Meteorite, which will be run over 1200m at Cranbourne on Saturday with the Griffiths and de Kock stable represented by Rey Magnerio.
The Griffiths and de Kock team entered negotiations with Southside Racing and once given the nod poured all their efforts into getting the sprinter ready for Saturday’s contest.
That included the decision stay home and bypass a potential trip to Perth for the Group 1 Winterbottom Stakes (1200m) on Saturday week.
“We nominated him for the Winterbottom, but we always wanted to run in The Meteorite on our home track and once we secured a slot and we could confirm that, then our energies and focus has been on The Meteorite,” Griffiths said.
“We went through a financial arrangement with the Club, hence the reason he’s racing in the Club colours, the black with the green Southside logo.
“It’s exciting for them and exciting for us and it’s exciting for me as a Cranbourne boy that’s been here since 1972, watching the whole place evolve.
“I think it’s a win for the Club having watched it all evolve, and it validates what they’re doing.
“It’s great for us as a local stable, and then for the ownership group if we were to win an inaugural race, that’s worth a million dollars, it would be fantastic.”
Rey Magnerio enters Saturday’s race in winning form, taking out a Listed race at Flemington over 1200m on November 9.
That victory followed unlucky seconds at Caulfield and Flemington in his two previous starts.
“He kicked off the campaign with a great run, and he followed up with another great run in a 1000-metre race,” Griffiths said.
“He was always set for Derby Day and then Final Day. We’re biased, but we think he should have won Derby Day, and then he’s followed up with a really tough win against some horses on the up.
“We’re happy with him, he’s come through the run well, but it’s going to be a tough task on Saturday, but we think we’ve got the right horse to do it.”
