Price plots $12m spring raid for stable stars

Planet Red and Sabaj have different ultimate targets this spring, but the Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr-trained pair could be seeing a bit of each other on the way through to them.

The two geldings had their first jumpouts of the campaign at Cranbourne on Monday morning.

Sabaj ran third, just under two lengths behind Proved, despite not being knocked around in the first hitout, while Planet Red was beaten about 2-1/2 lengths by Spirit Of Wealth when second later in the morning.

It was the most serious piece of work for the campaign for each, who are both likely to resume in the Group 1 Memsie Stakes (1400m) on August 29 and progress to the Group 1 Toorak Handicap (1600m) before chasing major paydays in Sydney.

“I think they’re running in the hot Memsie,” Price said.

“With their rating, the calendar pushes you in that way. I think they’ll both kick off there because of their rating and the timing of it.

“They’re both nice horses and they’re both sort of Toorak Handicap horses.”

Providing all goes well through until the Toorak Handicap, which will be run at Caulfield on October 10, Planet Red will then be off to the Golden Eagle (1500m), which will this year be run at Group 1 level for the first time.

Price and Kent won the 2021 Golden Eagle with I’m Thunderstruck, who also won the Toorak, and Price said the $10 million event was too hard to resist with the gelding who was runner-up in both the Caulfield Guineas and Australian Guineas at Group 1 level earlier this season.

“His run in the Caulfield Guineas was very good, drawn a bad gate, and his run in the Australian Guineas was very good, drawn a bad gate, so we were forced to ride cold in both those races,” he said of the son of Admire Mars.

“The Golden Eagle is a fast 1500. You need a horse with a pretty good turn of foot and, for $10m and four-year-olds, I think he’ll be in it.”

Sabaj’s Sydney aim is the $2 million Five Diamonds (1800m), a race restricted to five-year-olds, which will be run on November 7.

The son of Manhattan Rain has won five of 12 starts and while winless in his only three starts so far this year, he did run fourth in both the All-Star Mile (1600m) and Australian Cup (2000m) at Group 1 level.

“He’s a nice horse and I think anywhere between a mile and 2000 (is suitable),” Price said.

“I reckon the Five Diamonds for him, because he will be a five-year-old.

“It’s 1800, that’d be beautiful. That’ll be a nice race for him.”