By Ray Hickson
There won’t be any reinventing the wheel with speedy mare Passeggiata when she makes her debut for Richard and Will Freedman at Kensington on Wednesday.
Trainer Will Freedman
With only 18 starts under her belt she’s still lightly raced and Will Freedman said if the change of routine and scenery does the trick she’ll be a bargain at the $60,000 he paid for her.
So she’ll step out in new colours in the PKF Sydney Handicap (1000m), with Hollymount Stud’s Matthew Sandblom in the ownership, and Freedman said they go into her first-up run with an open mind as to where her future lies.
“She’s a six-year-old mare, you’re not going to change her style,’’ he said.
“She’s a fast horse, we’re just putting her in a different system and sometimes that changes their psyche a bit.
“They form a relationship with new people. I don’t think we’re doing anything revolutionary by any means.
“I bought her to spec as a tried horse for our owners and Matthew texted me straight after we bought her and he took her on. If she’s going well he’s quite open to continuing racing.
“If not she goes to stud as a city winning mare with plenty of speed.”
Passeggiata, $3.30 with TAB on Tuesday, was formerly trained by Bjorn Baker and, as she does in her races, hit the ground running winning three of her first four starts.
In her subsequent 14 attempts she recorded five second placings with the latest of those back in April when she was run down by Miss Icelandic at Randwick.
She’s won both barrier trials – taking her barrier trial form to 11 wins and a second from 12 trials – and Freedman said feedback from jockey Ashley Morgan has been encouraging.
“Ash mentioned that the key for her is that she jumps well,’’ he said.
“If she doesn’t jump well you have to ask too much of her to go forward because she’s not a horse you’re going to restrain behind runners.
“She’s been jumping well in her trials, and Ash said the second trial she was more manageable.
“If she can jump cleanly and put herself in front, I’ll be damned if there’s a horse that can go as quick as her for as long as she can.
“It’s like take her on at your own peril, she’ll withstand it longer than most because she’s conditioned to it.
“She may need her first-up run but if she is able to jump cleanly and not be pressured the whole way she’s going to be hard enough to run down.”
Whether Blue Point colt Clear Blue Day makes his debut in the Inglis Xtra Bonus Handicap (1150m) or is saved for perhaps Kembla Grange on Saturday will be a race morning decision but Freedman said the youngster is showing talent.
Passeggiata wins a Rosehill trial on July 29
He concedes a heavy track may not be an ideal surface and isn’t putting pressure on the horse to make a winning debut but says he has plenty to work with.
“He’s a very promising three-year-old, we’ve really liked him the whole way along,’’ he said.
“He’ll be much better when he gets on top of the ground. It may not be the best place to be on the inside but when you’re a young inexperienced horse you’d prefer barrier one to 12.”
All the fields, form and replays for Wednesday’s Kensington meeting