Latest News

By Ray Hickson

Sejardan is the horse that snuck up on trainer Gary Portelli.

The unbeaten colt, favourite at $3.70 with TAB for Saturday’s $2 million Inglis Millennium (1100m) at Randwick, was the type that always had nice things said about him but wasn’t a showpony.

Trainer Gary Portelli (Pic: Steve Hart)

He’s never been the standout among the Warwick Farm trainer’s youngsters at home but when he turns up on race day it’s game on.

“He certainly doesn’t go out there to big note himself at trackwork, he’s very unassuming, he runs under the radar,’’ Portelli said.

“When I was first educating him Snitcat was the pea for us, we though she was the sharp one and beat him up in most gallops.

“When we went to the Gimcrack and Breeders’ with them I thought we were more chance of winning the Gimcrack even though we knew Ciaron’s horse (Coolangatta) was smart.

“She didn’t get clear and we didn’t get the chance to see the best of her then he came out and won and we were left lamenting based on the fact she used to beat him up.”

He might be unassuming but he pays attention and this is where Portelli’s education process has probably been the making of Sejardan.

Portelli makes a point of teaching young horses to win. Especially when it’s race day.

This is why when he appeared between races at Rosehill last weekend with stablemate Royalzel, a three-year-old, it was important he won the gallop so he knew he was winning when it counted.

“I needed an older horse that wasn’t doing to do anything silly on the track and be a good companion for him,’’ he said.

“I said to the riders that I needed the colt to win the gallop because I wanted to instill the winning instinct every time he steps on the track on race day.

“Our young ones are taught to put their head in front as they get to the line so we teach them what the winning post is there for.”

Two impressive wins in the spring, in the Breeders' Plate and $1m Golden Gift, amassed $665,000 in prizemoney which is more than enough to ensure Sejardan a place in month’s $5m Longines Golden Slipper.

So Portelli sees the Millennium as a free hit at a $1.16 million first prize cheque.

“When we won those two races it was a no-brainer. We don’t have to go the traditional way at all, we’re already in,’’ he said.

“Let’s just have a crack at the big prizemoney and we’ve got nothing to lose. If we get beat we get beat, we can still regroup and win a Slipper.

“It’s a good position to be in, quite relaxing knowing you’re already qualified but nerve racking knowing you have a favourite for a $2 million race this weekend.

“Every gallop we’ve wanted to do we’ve been able to get done properly and I’ve seen the improvement physically.”

Portelli, who trained the 2017 Golden Slipper winner She Will Reign, didn’t really care what barrier Sejardan drew in the Millennium but after coming up with nine is more than satisfied that jockey Jason Collett will be able to give the colt his chance.

“As long as he’s travelling comfortably and he has some horse when he straightens and keeps out of trouble,’’ he said.

Jason Collett steers @inglis_sales Millennium favourite Sejardan in an exhibition gallop with @GaryPortelli stablemate Royalzel at Rosehill. They clocked 49.58 for the 800m with a 35.52 last 600m. @tabcomau @7horseracing pic.twitter.com/nhwM8PgrS7

— Racing NSW (@racing_nsw) January 29, 2022

“That’s all you want to see in a two-year-old race and if he’s good enough he’ll get over the top of them. He just does the job and I want to see him do it again.

“It looks to me as though he’s going to go to the races this weekend where I need him, to be able to handle a high pressure race.”

Sejardan will head to the Group 2 Todman Stakes (1200m) at Randwick on March 5 for his final lead up into the Golden Slipper.

Portelli also has Vaderzan contesting the Millennium in preference to a midweek race and he said while the gelding doesn’t have the same profile it’s well worth a shot.

Vaderzan comes into the race off a third placing at Canberra last month and will be making use of barrier one.

“He got bottled up at a bad stage when I thought he was starting to get going. By the time he got off heels the first two had cleared off,’’ he said.

“He’s a nice horse and has a lot of speed but whether he’s up to winning this class of race I’m not sure.

“He’ll get every chance because he will go forward and if he can run in the top five or six or even 10 he’s paid his way. You can’t turn your back on a $2m race, you can always come back to midweeks.”

All the fields, form and replays for Saturday's Randwick meeting