Mick Price and Michael Kent Jr are looking forward to lining up Tavistock duo Tavisan and Contrition on Saturday, albeit 1400km apart.
Tavisan will tackle the Listed Furphy Stakes (1000m) at Morphettville Park in Adelaide, while Contrition will contest the Gr.1 Australian Oaks (2400m) at Randwick in Sydney.
It will be Tavisan’s first-up assignment this preparation and his trainers are pleased with his progression in the lead-up to the weekend.
“Tavisan is fantastic,” Kent said. “He had a really good preparation. We started him off at our beach stable, which he really enjoys. We brought him up slowly and he had a recent jump out which he won nicely.
“He has been at Caulfield for the last three weeks and he has improved his fitness with a few course proper gallops.
“He worked really well on Tuesday morning and he is bouncing around. He has got good, natural energy that horse.
“He is really fresh and well and he has done enough work to be competitive in a race that should suit him.
“He jumps fast and he will land forward on the tightish Morphettville track. It looks like a race that should set up well for him.”
Originally earmarked for a Queensland campaign, Kent said they have had to rethink his targets with the cancellation of the winter carnival.
“We did have a couple of races picked out for him in Queensland, but that has been aborted.
“Possibly the Wangoom (Listed, 1200m) would be a nice option for him.”
Meanwhile, in Sydney, Contrition will be shooting for Group One glory in the Australian Oaks.
“She has particularly thrived up there (in Sydney),” Kent said. “We have her at Rosehill working out of Gerald Ryan’s stables and she has put on 5kg since she has been up there. She is not a big filly, so she has done really well.
“We plan to ride her a bit forward. We have drawn 11 of 14, we will probably aim to put her into the race. We are very hopeful that she can run in the top five in a race like that.
“She was seventh last start in the Vinery (Gr.1, 2000m), but they went quite slow and it was hard to make ground that day.
“Sam Clipperton (jockey) thought her last furlong (200m) was as strong as any part in the race and she ran through the line well.
“She didn’t have a really tough run that day and she should really bounce off that run into this one.
“We are reasonably optimistic, but understand that there are a few fillies there that are better performed than her. We think she will stay and she has certainly done very well up in Sydney.”
Both Tavisan and Contrition are New Zealand Bloodstock yearling sales graduates. Tavisan was purchased out of Hallmark Stud’s 2017 Premier Sale draft for $135,000 by Ontrack Thoroughbreds, while Contrition was purchased out of Cambridge Stud’s 2018 Book 1 Sale draft by Price for $35,000. – NZ Racing Desk
