Vinery sire Casino Prince is ready to roll the dice for another run of feature wins this season.
His Sydney mare Sweet Deal is coming off back-to-back wins at Rosehill and Randwick with a hat-trick beckoning in the $140,000 Mona Lisa Stakes LR at Wyong on September 6.
A day later, The Candy Man resumes at Eagle Farm ahead of a trip south where trainer Barry Baldwin has ear-marked the $160,000 Cameron Hcp Gr.3. Newcastle’s premier sprint could be the catalyst for a throw at the stumps in the $1 million Epsom Hcp Gr.1 at Randwick.
Casino Prince hit a purple-patch late last season with Baccarat Baby (Sunshine Coast Guineas), What’s New (Singapore Stewards Cup), The Candy Man (Queensland Premier’s Cup) & Charmed Princess (Grafton Guineas). And his Singapore star Lim’s Cruiser went within a neck of an unprecedented hat-trick in the Lion City Cup Gr.1 before travelling to England where he wasn’t disgraced in the Diamond Jubilee Gr.1 and July Cup Gr.1.
Sweet Deal scored at double-figures in the Kogaroo Hcp (1400m) at Randwick on Saturday and that was way above the odds in light of her form since returning from the Brisbane winter carnival.
The John Thompson-trained mare camped on pacemaker Prime Candidate (Denman) before breaking clear at the furlong. “She travelled a little bit keenly until we ducked in behind the leader,” jockey Nash Rawiller reported. “We got a cart up and to her credit she pulled out something special.”
Sweet Deal was catalogued for the 2016 Inglis Classic Yearling Sale by her breeder Pip Cooper and has turned a $67,500 price-tag into earnings of $440,970. Her dam Dorothy Evelyn (Royal Academy) has another Casino Prince in the pipeline having a foaled a colt by him last October.
Meanwhile, The Candy Man has pleased connections since his last prep which was highlighted by seven consecutive wins to Group 3 level at Eagle Farm. He was never in the hunt during a hit-out at Doomben on August 13 but Baldwin wasn’t the least bit concerned.
Rising star Zoustyle put nine lengths on the field over 840 metres. “Zoustyle is probably the best horse in Queensland and I wouldn’t be surprised if he was a top performer in Sydney this spring,” Baldwin said. “We got beaten three lengths by the second horse so his trial was good.
“It was mainly to make certain that he hadn’t got back to his old habit of standing in the barriers but he jumped fine so that was one worry out of the way.”
The Candy Man is a younger brother to Casino Prince stakes winner Phrases and was a $120,000 buy at the 2015 Magic Millions 2YO Sale for Lucky Pippos and Gladstone couple Edgar & Cynthia Allen.
He races in the same purple and white colours made famous by 1970s icon Gunsynd who was part-owned by Lucky’s dearly departed older brother George Pippos. The Goondiwindi Grey won the 1971 Epsom and the family would love nothing better than to see those silks salute again aboard The Candy Man.
Casino Prince stands for a $6,600 service fee at Vinery in company with More Than Ready ($55,000), All Too Hard ($27,500), Star Turn ($22,000), Headwater ($16,500), Press Statement ($16,500) & Pluck ($6,600). All fees (inc. GST).