Mick Price is aware of his tendency to get overly-ambitious when a member of his team indicates above-average ability, but it is unlikely to stop him doing similar with Globe.
The untapped Charm Spirit four-year-old added another picket to the fence he has formed to start his career when he demolished his rivals in the $150,000 King’s Coronation Cup (1800m) at Sandown on Saturday.
The victory made it four wins from four starts and virtually demanded to Price that he and co-trainer Michael Kent Jnr start thinking about this year’s Spring Carnival.
“Whenever I feel a horse is OK I usually get terribly ambitious, which is against my strike rate, but what can you do?” Price said.
“He’s a lovely horse and if we do spell him and aim for the Spring, he’ll be in all the good races.”
Globe backed up his four-length win over 1800m in benchmark 64 grade at the same track on April 19 with victory by the same margin on Saturday.
His two earlier starts produced a 2-1/4-length maiden win over 1400m and a 3-1/2-length win over 1600m in a Pakenham 0-64.
“It would interesting to see him over 2000 metres, wouldn’t it,” Price said when trying to work out whether there might be another run in Globe this campaign.
“He was a little bit keen there, I’m hoping that’s not a temperament thing, because sometimes at the end of a prep they’re temperament gets a little bit rattled, but we’ll just try and make the right decision.”
Like at his previous start, Globe was ridden by Celine Gaudray, who put the wide barrier out of play by taking him to the front and it was evident before the halfway point of the straight he had his rivals’ measure.
Normandy Bridge ($26) showed good improvement to work home into second, 1-1/2 lengths in advance of $3.80 second favourite Daytona Bay.
“We drew a sticky gate today but he absolutely pinged the lids and early on he was a little unsettled and on the bridle, but once he relaxed he was in a really, really good rhythm and he sustained that rhythm to the line,” Gaudray said.
Globe’s win was the first of a running double in the day’s benchmark 100 races for Price and Kent, who produced talented-but-injury-prone four-year-old Gunstock to win the $150,000 Cattanach’s Jewellers Handicap.
The 1600m event was Gunstock’s first start since his brilliant win in the Group 3 Coongy Cup (2000m), after which he suffered a second knee injury.
Gunstock was ridden to victory by Melbourne Cup-winning jockey Mark Zahra, who celebrated a winning double at his first back from the 36-meeting suspension he incurred for interference caused in the Group 1 Australian Guineas at Flemington on March 4.
Zahra won the first race of the day aboard Le Zebra for David and Emma-Lee Browne.
