Princess rises to occasion
THERE might not have been any owners at the winning ceremony for the Dual Choice Plate but Princess of Queens had a wellknown sports and racing identity watching on from the skies as she crossed the line ahead of pre-race favourite Satori.
Sports commentator Drew Morphett had been part of the ownership group of the Mick Price-trained mare but passed away in August last year, just a week after she saluted at Sandown.
The five-year-old beat out a quality field and will likely head to Flemington next, with winning jockey Damien Oliver saying she handled the occasion perfectly.
“She did a good job, she clearly enjoyed that fast tempo and relaxed and then she got off and found the gap and finished off really strongly,” Oliver said.
“She seems to enjoy that, and it was a good win.”
Third-placed Qiji Phoenix, who was brought to Geelong by Gold Coast trainer Toby Edmonds, had put in a good showing before being overtaken in the straight by Princess of Queens and Satori, who had been well backed to claim victory.
Satori’s trainer Matt Cumani said his gelding was looking for softer ground and may end up being sent to the paddock until next year.
“I thought that might have happened in this race, I thought it might have been a different horse doing it, but he lets down a lot better on softer ground,” Cumani said.
“As we go forward at this time of year it is going to be harder and harder to find that, so we might just give him three weeks and assess him and if it looks like the weather is going to turn in November, which it sometimes does here in Victoria, we might look to give him another run.
“Otherwise we might turn him out and bring him back for late summer or early autumn.”