Sabaj stamped himself as one of the most promising gallopers in Victoria with a dominant win in the Cranbourne Cup.
For Price and Kent Jnr it was back-to-back Cups after they won with Globe who led throughout last year. This year it was a completely different scenario with Sabaj drifting back early, as is his style, before making a looping run under jockey Beau Mertens.
Sabaj was sent out a dominant $3.30 favourite, holding off Enxuto and Holymanz, who filled the placings.
SABAJ 🏆
It’s the favourite’s Cranbourne Cup! Beau Mertens has a treble and the Price/Kent yard go back-to-back in the Cup 🥇🥇@beau_mertens @MickPriceRacing pic.twitter.com/KVP4QarTEG
— 7HorseRacing 🐎 (@7horseracing) November 22, 2025
The four year old has now had three starts for Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr and each one has told the same story. Untapped talent, a monster engine and a horse capable of charging through the grades.
He was unlucky in the Silver Eagle, brilliant when winning at Flemington during Cup week and today he added his hometown Cup to the resume. Eight starts, five wins, two seconds and more than $500,000 in the bank. If this is only the beginning, the ceiling seems high.
Sabaj began his career in South Australia with Richard and Chantelle Jolly, where he quickly showed above average talent, winning three of his first five starts.
For Mertens, who spent his apprentice years at Cranbourne under Michael Kent, it was a special win.
“It’s unbelievable.”
“I didn’t think it would hit me as hard as it has. I was apprenticed to Michael Kent here throughout my years at Cranbourne and now I have an association with Mick Price and Mick Kent Jnr.”
“Mick Price has been a big part of my career for a very long time and we’ve had a great connection and a great association. It’s fantastic to deliver in such a fantastic race.”
From the moment the gates opened, Mertens trusted he was on the best horse and rode him to his normal pattern.
“I don’t think it could have worked out any better from the barrier we had. He’s not fast out of the machines and I just let him naturally travel in a position he was comfortable in. We ended up on the back of Steparty in the three wide line. I got dragged into the race where I didn’t have to do too much work and when I popped him out, he accelerated that quickly underneath me. He feels like a very, very nice horse and he put the race away very quick.”
Price’s attention quickly turned to bigger goals in the autumn.
“We’ve got the autumn here in front of us with this horse if we want. This is sort of a brand new horse. He’s perfectly sound, feet, knees, fetlock, lovely. He’s lightly raced, good ability. He’s clean winded and I think if we look after him he will be fine. I’m not saying he’s a tough horse, that’s not how we treat him, but I think we’re gelling with him and if we treat him right we can have a lovely horse in the autumn and we can chase a good race.”
And for a Cranbourne trainer, winning the Cup on home soil still hits differently.
“It’s a great training centre. We train a lot of nice horses here and you get to go out the back in the sand dunes.”
Sabaj is lightly raced, has a powerful burst and seemingly improving every run. On today’s evidence he is a horse ready to take the next step come the autumn.
