Fireburn might have been unplaced in her final trial before her first-up run in next month’s Group 2 Run To The Rose, but don’t expect to see trainer Gary Portelli pressing any alarm bells.
The Warwick Farm horseman now knows what to expect from the Golden Slipper winner and was satisfied her fifth placing, beaten six lengths by Super Vino, in Monday’s 10-horse 1200-metre trial on her home track.
“She did her usual, which is absolutely nothing in a barrier trial,” Portelli said.
“She got back and just floated down the straight. I would have liked to have seen Brenton (Avdulla, jockey) just give her a bit of a squeeze to make her finish off just because she’s so unresponsive and she just doesn’t do anything unless you make her.
“But she finished under a nice hold through the line. It was a nice gallop, she pulled up well and she’ll be ready to go first-up.”
Monday’s outing was Fireburn’s second trial as a three-year-old, having finished second-last in a field of 10 over 900m at Rosehill on August 12. Her best trial effort remains her third placing in the lead-up to the Group 2 Sweet Embrace Stakes (1200m) in February.
Lacklustre trial efforts as a two-year-old did not prevent the daughter of Rebel Dane winning that race and two Group 1s; the Golden Slipper (1200m) and ATC Sires’ (1400m).
“She’s been beaten by very ordinary horses in barrier trials, but she’s come out and won the most prestigious two-year-old race of the year,” Portelli said.
“She’ll go to the races spot on, but it’ll be interesting enough to see whether she’s sharp enough for a 1200 (metre race) first-up because she doesn’t give you any indication how she’s going.
The $250,000 Run To The Rose (1200m) at Rosehill on September 10 will also see the season-return of Fireburn’s stablemate Sejardan.
The son of Sebring tuned-up via a 787m trial and his narrow win over Bacchanalia, in which he poked through along the inside, in a time of 47.15 seconds impressed Portelli.
“He couldn’t get cover from the inside gate because they all raced off the fence, so he was a little bit keen early but really strong,” Portelli said of the colt who was ridden by Jason Collett.
“He’s flying this horse. I’ve been talking about getting him over a bit of ground, but I think he’s coming up so sharp that he might have just matured into a really good sprinter.”