Ross Price is delighted to see the return of Colour Correct in Saturday’s Group 3 Belmont Sprint (1400m) but remains cautious about the gelding’s ability to have an impact first up.
Colour Correct is stepping out for his first outing in 18 months and hasn’t been seen since sustaining an injury in the 2011 Perth Cup when seventh of 15 behind Guest Wing.
The High Yield six-year-old faces a daunting task against the brilliant Luckgray who is out to complete the second-leg of a feature race double after his explosive victory in last fortnight’s Roma Cup (1200m).
But while Luckgray will commence a deserving favourite and is currently $1.90 on Player, punters have not dismissed Colour Correct.
He has been kept safe at $9 and is on the second line of betting with Dreamaway and her stable mate Battle Emblem.
Colour Correct, placed four times from five first up appearances, warmed up for his return with two trial competitive trials over 1000m.
“They were nice trials and he competed well in both of them,” said Price.
“He has copped all the work given to him but it’s not an easy race to start with and he has to do it under race conditions.
“It’s hard to gauge how he will go but he never runs a bad race but I’m confident he will acquit himself well.
“I’m hoping there is more than this race for him and that he pulls up well.”
Price’s second entrant, Reimbursement is on the minimum with 54kg and will jump from barrier nine for Jason Whiting.
The underrated gelding can sneak under the radar and did score solid wins in the Mungrup Sprint (1300m) at Mount Barker earlier in January and the Bunbury Stakes (1400m) last March.
Unplaced runs in the Pinjarra Classic (1500m) and the Grandstand Cup (1400m) at Ascot blotted his fine form, but Price believes there genuine reasons.
“When he won the Bunbury Stakes he carried 54.5kg and then jumped up to 59kg for his next two races which was a big jump and basically put him out of the picture,” Price said.
“He is a horse who gets under the guard a lot of times and is very consistent.
“Back to this weight scale he can run a good race.”
Reimbursement is rated a $15 chance on Player.
Price is attempting to claim his second Belmont Sprint after preparing Beat The Storm to victory in 2007.