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Prebble new rider for Probabeel; Riverplate to make Australian debut;
Prebble new rider for Probabeel
In-form jockey Brett Prebble will ride top class Kiwi mare Probabeel through the rest of her campaign.
The Jamie Richards-trained five-year-old resumed with a strong win in the Gr.3 Cockram Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield last Saturday under Damian Lane, but the successful rider was unable to commit to the mare through the entirety of her campaign.
"Damian has obviously taken the ride on Verry Elleegant in the Cox Plate (Gr.1, 2040m) and the Melbourne Cup (Gr.1, 3200m) and the connections of Probabeel were keen to have somebody that could ride her right through," Richards told SENTrack.
"That would be the Sir Rupert Clarke (Gr.1, 1400m), the Toorak (Gr.1, 1600m) and the Cox Plate (Gr.1, 2040m).
"Henry Plumptre, Brendan and Jo (Lindsay) and the team have decided that Brett Prebble is the man for the job and he will be on Probabeel for the rest of the preparation at this stage."
Richards said the mare was relatively straight forward to ride and Prebble will get a feel for her in trackwork prior to her next start.
The Matamata trainer was delighted with Probabeel's fresh-up performance.
"She did a really good job. She'd had a bit of a hold-up, and that sort of told when she peaked on her run the last little bit," he said.
"It was good to see her back and she has got a lot of improvement in her."
Riverplate to make Australian debut
The Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young stable will find out if they can add a bit more firepower to their three-year-old ranks when former kiwi-trained runner Riverplate runs over 1200m at Sandown on Wednesday.
After one start in New Zealand for the recently retired Andrew Campbell where he ran second at Te Rapa in June, Riverplate was whisked across the Tasman.
Busuttin likes Riverplate but is not sure what to expect on Wednesday and sees it as a learning curve.
"You just don't know with them coming over from New Zealand," Busuttin said.
"I see the form people don't rate him. I see he's around the $15 mark.
"That's not the be-all and end-all, but they do their form and they've analysed the race. It's interesting that they don't rate him, but I suppose it's a strong, city maiden race.
"He's a big strong, impressive horse in the flesh and on his trackwork, he can gallop."
Busuttin said nothing should be read into Riverplate having been nominated for races previously before stepping out on Wednesday.
The son of Flying Artie was entered for a race at The Valley back on August 21 and was an emergency acceptor in a maiden race at Echuca last week.
He has also been nominated for a maiden race over 1300m at Bendigo on Friday and also the 1200m race for three-year-olds at The Valley on Saturday.
And for good measure, Riverplate is entered for the Group 1 Caulfield Guineas (1600m) in October.
"You nominate for everything at this time of year, firstly to get a run and also to find out where they sit," Busuttin said.
"We'll run tomorrow and hopefully find out where he lies."
Riverplate was knocked down to Campbell out of Leanach Lodge's 2020 New Zealand Bloodstock Book 1 draft and races in the colours of Tommy Heptinstall.