Guest House ready to bring the roof down
Promising two-time trial winner all set for Magic Millions Victorian 2YO Classic debut
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Already a two-time trial winner, the Mick Price and Michael Kent Jr-trained Guest House will make his debut in the Magic Millions Victorian 2YO Classic (1,100m) at Caulfield on Dec 20. He will be ridden by Beau Mertens.
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MELBOURNE – A familiarisation workout at the scene for the A$250,000 (S$214,000) Magic Millions Victorian 2YO Classic has trainer Michael Kent Jr’s confidence in Guest House high ahead of his long-awaited debut.
The son of Home Affairs will return to Caulfield’s Heath track for the 1,100m event restricted to Magic Millions graduates on Dec 20.
The A$270,000 yearling tuned up for his maiden race with a 1½-length trial win on Dec 11.
Kent, who trains in partnership with Mick Price, was pleased with what he saw from the colt.
“He’s got good talent, he’s a very speedy customer, and we’ve done a lot of work on just getting him to harness his energy,” he said.
“I thought he acquitted himself very well. From an outside draw he begun okay, we could probably get that better, but then he mustered quickly without overdoing it (then) relaxed well outside the leader while going a nice tempo.
“I think on this Heath track, it’s not easy to cover ground and keep going, so he showed good stamina later to extend and win nicely.”
Guest House, who will be ridden by Beau Mertens on his debut, defeated fellow Gold Coast Yearling Sale purchase Invincible Son in the 850m trial that had some juveniles also targeting the same race.
The Robbie Griffiths-trained Invincible Son, John McArdle’s Sayalero (fourth) and the Grahame Begg-trained Oman (fifth) are the others from last week’s trial among the 13 entries in the 2YO contest.
The Magic Millions Victorian 2YO Classic is run 2½ months after the Listed Maribyrnong Trial Stakes (1,000m), which was to be Guest House’s debut, held at Flemington on Oct 4. The race was eventually won by Eurocanto.
Price and Kent accepted that race for Guest House, who will race under the Roll The Dice Racing colours, but scratched after he trialled twice in five days in an attempt to get to the 1,000m race.
Guest House was subsequently freshened and defeated trainer Ciaron Maher’s impressive Pakenham winner Milsons Point in an 800m Cranbourne jumpout 10 days before his Caulfield trial.
The Victorian 2YO Classic is one of two Magic Millions races at Caulfield on Dec 20, with the other sponsored event being the A$175,000 3YO & 4YO Classic (1,200m), which is headlined by Bevan Laming’s in-form gelding Gin A Tonic, who is chasing a hat-trick. RACING AND SPORTS
