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Ron Quinton is not known for having an early season two-year-old but when it comes to Let's Make It Rain he is willing to break a few rules. "I went to the sale and didn't have an owner for this colt and paid $170,000," Quinton said. "That's what I thought of him and I thought he would make a two-year-old. I trained his mother and she sliced a tendon before she could race and he was just a bit like her." Quinton sold the Not A Single Doubt colt among his stable clients but still has a relatively huge chunk of the Inglis Classic buy.
So he would have had a smile on his face when Let's Make It Rain came out and won a Randwick barrier trial in fast time after chasing Paceman at his other trial appearance. "That was only 740metres and it can be misleading," Quinton said. "He has shown me enough to say it is worth going to the race but we have drawn the outside barrier, which makes it tough. I think he will run a good race and it will tell us where he will go. There are options for him now or we could put him away for later on."
Sam plays it again
Samantha Clenton is ready for the next step in a career she nearly threw away when a teenager. The country apprentice rode her 100th winner, at Port Macquarie on Tuesday, before her first Sydney double at Canterbury on Wednesday and will return to the city this weekend for her new boss, Kris Lees, on Terra Amata. "It is great to get back on her because I missed the last win at Warwick Farm," Clenton said. "She is a nice mare and when you're an apprentice you don't get that many chances to get on horses like her. She is up to Saturday grade, I think, and it would be good to get another winner."
Clenton returned to the saddle only last November after giving it away for a couple of years. Since being back she has outridden her country claim during a stunning rise through the grades, which has drawn the attention of the bigger stables. "Kris actually came and asked me to come down and work for him on Taree Cup day, that was in August," Clenton said. "I wanted to outride my country claim first and I have done that, so this is the next step. I start with Kris on a three-month loan next month and it is a chance of a lifetime. I just want to keep improving."
Midsummer day's dream
Sam Kavanagh would love to add the ATC Cup to the CV of stayer Midsummer Sun at Rosehill on Saturday, even though it would make it more difficult to place the horse. The imported stayer made a long run when he just went down to Malice last start. "I couldn't be happier with him after that run and it has really brought him on," Kavanagh said.
"Our aim was to try and win the Gosford Cup again but the way he is going, he is going to be hard to beat in an ATC Cup. That would probably rule out the Gosford Cup because he would get too much weight." However, there are other options, including races in Perth and Melbourne, which suit Midsummer Sun. "You get these stayers going well and up in the ratings and you have to be smart and that's what we are trying to be," Kavanagh said.
Track ratings revamped
The days are of fast and dead track ratings will be gone after the Australian Racing Board changes to a more user-friendly system from December. The new will be firm, good, soft and heavy but will still stay in the 10-number scaling system.
"Track ratings are a crucial element of decisions made by punters and trainers and it was essential that they had an input into any changes," ARB boss Peter McGauran said. "The review sparked a lively debate about what should or shouldn't be incorporated ... I do believe there is as great a consensus as you are ever going to get. Importantly, the younger demographic believes the language to be more ... easily understood."
