By Glenn Davis
Port Macquarie trainer Jenny Graham is hopeful talented sprinter Victorem can smash the $1 million prizemoney barrier in the Group 3 Healy Stakes at Eagle Farm on Saturday.
Graham has been training for around 20 years and Victorem has been her best horse and only Stakes winner to date.
Victorem has earned $925,500 in prizemoney from seven wins and five placings in his 15-start career and will smash the $1 million mark if he can collect the $101,500 first prize.
“He’s been a great horse and is as sound as a bell,” Graham said.
“The only problem I have with him is keeping his blood enzymes under control.”
Victorem was sent to Queensland with the Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap at his main goal but the four-year-old failed to make the field for the $1.5 million sprint.
However, Graham picked up a worthy consolation when Victorem claimed the Listed Bert Hinkler (1200m) at Eagle Farm the same day.
Graham has put the disappointment of not gaining a Stradbroke start with Victorem behind her and is already looking to the future.
“I was a bit disappointed missing out on the Stradbroke as that was his plan all along and we thought he’d be competitive,” she said.
“But winning the Bert Hinkler was the next best thing on the day.”
Graham believes Victorem is drawn to get a nice run in the race from barrier two but she’s a little concerned with a 1.5kgs rise in weight to 59kgs.
“The lift in weight hurts a little and it is a concern,” she said.
“This will probably be his last run in Queensland as I want to get him ready for The Kosciuszko in Sydney.
“We won’t have enough time to get him ready for it if he was to stay on for The Glasshouse next week.
“He’ll need to have a bit of a break and I haven’t yet worked out what his campaign will be for The Kosciuszko.
“He goes well fresh so he could just have a few trials before The Kosciuszko.”
Victorem ran in last year’s The Kosciuszko but like most horses struggled to handle the heavy Randwick track to finish fifth behind Grafton sprinter Bellflyer.
“The track at Randwick that day was very heavy and he’s much better on top of the ground,” Graham said.
Racing Queensland webnews June 21