2000m to test classy miler
Julinsky Prince will be out of comfort zone when he starts in Livamol Classic
Julinsky Prince will break the habits of a lifetime this weekend. The dual Group one winner will end a remarkable sequence when he tackles the $250,000 Livamol Classic (2040m) at Hastings on Saturday.
It will follow 22 successive starts at 1600m, stretching back to February 2014. The 7-year-old has not raced at any other distance since finishing sixth in the 2014 Taranaki Cup (1800m).
There has been good reason for the concentration on 1600m. His 28 starts at the distance have produced 10 wins and $565,000 in stakes.
However, the step up to a middle distance this weekend has been a planned move by trainer Fraser Auret and owner John Bromley.
Auret has always had the Livamol in mind for Julinsky Prince this spring and Bromley needed little persuasion to target a race he won twice with his outstanding racemare Princess Coup.
“We were always going to try him at 2000m this spring,” Auret said “The distance will be a bit of a question mark but if he copes it will open a few more doors for him.
“He has had such a good record at a mile that we haven’t wanted to deviate too much. But handicaps are out of the question for him now, and there are only three or four weightfor-age miles.
“I’m fairly positive that he’s going to run out the distance [in the Livamol]. The only time he has run over 2000m he finished third at Awapuni [in December 2013] and he’s a much better horse now.”
Julinsky Prince is one of only two group one winners in the Livamol and it is not difficult to make a case for him on Saturday. He has drawn well, will have track conditions to suit and has been racing consistently well at the top level.
His seven starts last term were all in either group one or group two company and produced two wins, two seconds and a third.
There are only three group one 1600m weight-for-age races in New Zealand and Julinsky Prince won two of them and ran second in the other last term, a record that says much about the ability of both the horse and trainer.
Julinsky Prince resumed in the Windsor Park (1600m) at Hastings this month and finished a creditable sixth, beaten two lengths. He ran his final 600m in 35.02, the second fastest
The distance will be a bit of a question mark but if he copes it will open a few more doors for him. Fraser Auret
in the race, with only leading Livamol chance Rasa Lila recording a faster sectional.
“We thought it was a pretty good run,” Auret said. “He had a horrible barrier, came from last at the 600m and has gone around them all.
“I’ve been quite thrilled with him since, His work has been fantastic and he has taken some improvement out of the race.”
A slow track would suit Julinsky Prince. The Darci Brahma gelding is better with the jar out and has had five wins from 11 starts on slow or heavy tracks. “The way Johnathan Parkes puts it is that he seems to go the same speed on a slow (7) as he does on a good (3),” Auret said.
Julinsky Prince, who has started favourite just four times in 38 starts, was at $18 in the Livamol market early this week and at $11 when final field betting opened yesterday.
The Hastings track was a slow (8) yesterday morning, prompting the TAB bookmakers to promote Humidor to favourite for the Livamol, ahead of Rasa Lila who has had just one run on a slow track, in the Rich Hill Mile last January.
Rasa Lila finished fifth in the Rich Hill, after starting from a wide barrier, and still ran the fastest time for the last 600m.
The Darci Brahma mare, who did her 3-year-old racing in Australia, has had four wins and three placings from her 11 starts over the past 12 months, with all bar two at group level.
She has only twice been further back than fifth in New Zealand, despite having to cope with a series of wide barriers last term.
She has an inside draw on Saturday while third-favourite Mime will start from the outside gate.
Market: $4.40 Humidor, $4.80 Rasa Lila, $5.50 Mime, $10: Authentic Paddy, Hasselhoof; $11: Julinsky Prince, $13: Willie Cazals, $15: El Pescado, $21: Battle Time, Saint Emillion; $26: Benzini, Savaria; $31: Fanatic, $41: Platinum Command, $51: Celebrity Miss, Farm Boy, Nymph Monte; $126: Bohemian Lily.