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Trainer Gary Portelli is leaving almost all options open for his star three-year-olds Fireburn and Sejardan – including extending the filly’s preparation beyond two runs - as far as the spring carnival goes but will likely separate them for their first-up assignments.
The duo are scheduled to trial in the same heat, alongside superstar Zaaki, at Rosehill Gardens on Friday and have the same early season aim of the Group 1 $1m Golden Rose (1400m) but Portelli said the way Sejardan is coming up he is leaning towards pulling the trigger earlier than planned.
"I was going to run them both in the Run To The Rose but the colt is coming along so quickly I'm thinking the Up & Coming Stakes may be on the agenda,'' Portelli said.
"Both horses are just stronger and they look fantastic, their coats look like summer coats.
"I'll see how he comes through the trial, that way I can keep them apart as well."
The Group 3 Up & Coming Stakes (1300m) is run on August 27, while the Group 2 Run To The Rose (1200m) is two weeks later on September 10.
Sejardan hasn't raced since finishing midfield in Fireburn's Golden Slipper, where he started a $9 chance, and missed the Inglis Sires' with a minor injury while his stablemate went on to win the Sires' and finish second in the Champagne Stakes.
Portelli said since they have returned to work his thoughts on their possible programs have changed a little, particularly when it comes to Fireburn who was initially only going to appear twice in the spring.
"I said that because I didn't know whether she'd come back,'' he said.
"If she's going very well and keeps winning you've got to keep going with her."
Asked whether, if it happened to be a wet spring, a TAB Everest slot would be appealing the trainer said his experience with She Will Reign a few years ago tells him it's a big task for a filly.
"We'd have to sit back and think about it,'' he said.
"At this point I'd say no, I don't think she is seasoned enough to take on the best sprinters. We did it with She Will Reign and it was a hard run on her.
"I honestly think she is a horse that needs seven furlongs and eight furlongs."
Fireburn is $6 favourite with TAB in all-in Golden Rose betting, she's $4.50 equal favourite in the Group 1 Flight Stakes (1600m) and $18 in the TAB Everest.
The Warwick Farm trainer said from what he's seeing at home he's quietly confident that Fireburn will carry her brilliant two-year-old form into the new season – particularly with predictions of a wet spring.
"She worked with Sejardan the other day and there was no way in the world he was going to let her beat him,'' he said.
"He's a really good trackworker where she is not. She's happy to go out and do basic work, she doesn't shine at all at trackwork but when she turns up on race day she turns up.
"We saw a horse that knew nothing when we started off with her, now she's come back and knows everything and is a stronger horse.
"I can't see any reason why she can't come back and be dominant again."
Portelli confirmed Brenton Avdulla will ride Fireburn while Jason Collett partners Sejardan.
He said Sejardan's first two runs in the spring will be crucial in determining where his distance range may be and therefore what to target after the Golden Rose, run at Rosehill Gardens on September 24.
"We either push on to the Caulfield Guineas or we get him out to 2000m, or we go back to a Coolmore (at 1200m),'' he said.
"He's not owned by studs and while the big picture is at some stage to be a stallion they want to race the horse and have fun with him. They want to race him until he is four or five."
