Pericles looking to hit Hellanic highs at Caufield
Michale Lynch looks at how it'll all be Greek at Caulfield if Pericles takes control
The historical Pericles was a charismatic leader in Ancient Greece, a statesman, a warrior and a successful general.
The horse of the same name has yet to hit those heights, but the James Cummings-trained five-year-old will be as popular as the populist politician for whom he is named if he can take out the group 1 Underwood Stakes on the third weekend of the Victorian spring carnival.
Pericles, who runs in the Godolphin blue, will head to Caulfield fit and sharp and in good form, having demonstrated his well-being with a good win at The Valley a fortnight earlier.
Partnered then, as he will be on Saturday, by champion jockey Blake Shinn Pericles easily landed the 1500 metre So You Think Stakes, seeing off Muramasa and Pounding.
That effort followed up a first-up third in the Group 2 PB Lawrence Stakes behind Gentleman Roy and subsequent group 1 winner Pinstriped, a run which showed he had come back well following a mid-winter spell after his narrow defeat in Australia's toughest 1600-metre race, the Doncaster, in April.
The distance rise to 1800 metres should not worry him -- the only time he has tried this trip resulted in a victory - and this assignment looks perfect for him as Cummings plots his path through the spring
“I think it’s his best chance to win a Group 1 since the Rosehill Guineas as a three-year-old, coming off that outstanding victory at Sandown in the Autumn Classic,'' Cummings said earlier this week.
“He’s well set up third-up from a spell, he loved that nine-furlong challenge at Sandown as a three-year-old.
“This is the first time I’ve run the horse over that distance since and he has the tactical speed to put himself right up there. I think there’s no shortage of class in the field, but the race hasn’t got the established superstar that the Underwood can tend to have.”
Two of his most fancied rivals, Place du Carrousel and Fawkner Park are resuming, so he will have a strong fitness edge on those.
The former, another expensively purchased European mare who now runs in the Yulong colours, was last seen in that topsy-turvey Queen Elizabeth Stakes in which Pride of Jenni made such a mess of her rivals
.Place du Carrousel finished seventh that day, so a better reflection of her ability might be the second place in which she finished behind Via Sistina in the Ranvet Stakes at her first Australian start at Randwick in April.
Fawkner Park, like Place du Carrousel, is amongst the market leaders for the Caulfield Cup and he too will strip much fitter for his Underwood run wherever he finishes.
He showed significant improvement last autumn, going from a win in the provincial Albury Cup to a third-place finish behind one of Saturday's rivals, Bois D'Argent, in the Group 1 Doomben Cup before landing the Group 2 Q22 during the Queensland winter carnival. He will be better suited by a more searching stamina test but he can be expected to be finishing on strongly.
Brazilian Joao Moreira, the former Hong Kong champion jockey, comes to Melbourne to partner Buckaroo from Chris Waller in this race and the former Irish-trained galloper might turn out to be Pericles' biggest danger.
Buckaroo came good in Australia for the first time last start after several unplaced runs when he scored in the Group 2 Chelmsford Stakes at Randwick, narrowly defeating the mare Hinged. He should improve that, and like Pericles is race-hardened and fit, although the Godolphin runner makes more appeal.
Another to watch out for on a competitive Caulfield card is the Ciaron Maher-trained Another Wil, who runs in race 5, the Millenium Testa Rossa Stakes.
The son of Street Boss (also the sire of Pericles) was impressive when winning over the same 1400-metre course and distance on his resumption and it is hard to see what will prevent him from making it seven wins from 10 starts when he faces nine opponents, including Here to Shock, who was runner up to Another Wil last time. Maher's horse can show his well-being en route to a tilt at the Group 1 Toorak Handicap.