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Kiwi trainer John Sargent will start to spread his wings from his new Randwick stable this weekend with runners in Sydney, Melbourne and Newcastle.
Photo by Racing and Sports
Sargent will be represented at Flemington on Saturday with his Queensland Oaks winner Quintessential resuming in the G2 Let's Elope Stakes as her first step towards a Caulfield Cup start.
“James McDonald will be riding her. She's fit and well and looks a lot stronger now,” said Sargent, who is quickly building up a strong team at Randwick.
“The horses have settled in well. I've got 25 in the stable and six more came over from New Zealand last week.
“There's a lot of young ones and two-year-olds bought at the sales.
“It can take a while to get the results and get the systems right but I'm very happy with the way things are going.”
Sargent's runners at Randwick on Saturday will include recent arrival Kirramosa, who finished fourth at Canterbury at her Sydney debut when resuming.
“She was a bit unlucky at Canterbury. She could run in the Furious Stakes at Randwick and she should go on with it,” Sargent said.
Sargent is sending the well-bred Mountain View, a half-brother by High Chaparral to dual G1 winner Gee I Jane, to Newcastle on Saturday.
“He'll go to a mile race on Saturday. He's still growing and learning and with a bit of racing he'll be right for those good three-year-old staying races coming up,” Sargent said.
Sargent also has Belle of the Turf winner Cathay Lady close to starting her spring campaign and now counts OTI Racing among his stable clients.
“I've got a horse called Moldowney from Ireland for OTI Racing,” he said.
“He'll have a campaign and then go out and be ready for Melbourne next spring,” he said.
By Dalakhani out of a Danehill mare, Moldowney is a winner over 2148m in Ireland from nine starts.
Sargent also has the imported Boogie Shoes, a three-time winner in England who was placed in the Tatts Mile in Brisbane, due back in the stable.
“He's a lovely type of staying horse and will be ready from Christmas through to the autumn,” Sargent said of his plans for the five-year-old.
* ANOTHER Kiwi mare heading to Melbourne is the Shaune Ritchie-trained Zurella, winner of last year's Let's Elope Stakes.
She will arrive later this spring with Ritchie setting her for a return to racing in a fillies and mares event on Turnbull Stakes day at Flemington on October 5 as her lead-up the G1 Myer Classic on Derby Day at Flemington.