A little bit of luck will be enough to give Perth sprinter Rock Magic his first Group 1 win in tonight’s Group 1 $500,000 Keogh Homes William Reid Stakes (1200m) at The Valley.
Secret Agenda, above, is the favourite for the 2018 William Reid Stakes at The Valley. Photo by Jenny Barnes.
Rock Magic has been placed once at Group 1 level on his home track in Perth when third to Takedown in the 2016 $1m Crown Perth-Winterbottom Stakes (1200m) at Ascot and finished just behind the placegetters on five other occasions.
Rock Magic hasn’t been far off the pace at his two latest runs at Flemington for a fifth in the Group 1 $750,000 Black Caviar Lightning (1000m) followed by a fourth in the Group 1 $1.25m Lexus Newmarket Handicap (1200m), both won by Redkirk Warrior, and trainer Chris Gangemi said that with some luck in running the eight year old will have a great chance to break his Group 1 duck.
“He has raced well over here without luck, he had barrier one in the Lightning and he had to come up the wrong side of the track and only got beaten a length-and-a-half by Redkirk Warrior and Redzel,” Gangemi told racing.com.
“Again in the Newmarket he had to come up the inside and although he had a couple of horses down on that inside, they sat in behind him and he needs something to chase, so hopefully tonight he can sit just in behind, have something to chase and he should be right in the finish.”
“It looks a nice race for him, he has obviously raced super first-up and second-up in the Lightning and the Newmarket, so with a bit of luck tonight he can land in a nice spot from a good barrier he should be thereabouts, it looks like a race he should be very competitive in,” he said.
“He normally jumps well, he has Thronum on his inside, if he can come across with him and get one off the fence and if someone wanted to come across from out wide and he can lob one out one back that would be perfect.”
Gangemi is hoping Damian Lane can take up a favourable position just behind the leaders from barrier five in the ten horse field before letting down with a strong finish at the end.
“Hopefully we can get that elusive Group 1 win with him,” Gangemi said.
The William Reid Stakes has developed into a wide open betting race with the Mick Price trained Secret Agenda heading the market order at Ladbrokes.com.au at $4.60 while Rock Magic is marked at $7.50 alongside of the Darren Weir trained Hellbent.
On the second line of betting is the 2017 Golden Slipper winner She Will Reign at $5 just ahead of Team Snowden’s smart colt Pariah at $5 and Supido at $7.
The Lindsay Park Team will saddle up three runners in the William Reid Stakes, Thronum ($10), Catchy ($17) and Fuhryk ($34) while Thronum, Secret Agenda, Supido and Pariah have all been scratched from tomorrow’s Group 1 $700,000 The PFD Food Services Galaxy (1100m) at Rosehill to run at The Valley tonight.
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