Over the past 12-months, for a multitude of different reasons, OTI has sent a few horses up to Sydney-based trainers. Plymouth Road and Count of Limonade are two of those ex-Victorian’s who will be donning the OTI colours this Saturday at Rosehill Gardens. We are quite fond of this track following Gallic Chieftain’s impressive win in the Listed ATC Winter Cup on the 1st of July.
Plymouth Road was originally transferred to James Cummings stable in the hopes of finding some more give in the track, as he performs at his best on a wet track. Once James announced he was heading to Godolphin, it was a relatively straightforward decision to send Plymouth Road down the road to Matt Smith. Smith, like James, was the foreman to legendary trainer Bart Cummings for a number of years. Matt Smith also valuable experience as assistant trainer to Aidan O’Brien before that. Plymouth Road has shown some very promising signs as an upcoming progressive stayer, winning 4 of his 16 starts with 4 placings, including a win at Warwick Farm over 2400m on a heavy 9 before he headed out for a spell.
Matt Smith has been very pleased with this gelding’s work, and he looks in tip-top condition heading into his race on Saturday over 1500m. He is coming into this race off the back of an excellent trial, which he won at the end of June. We typically see the best of this bloke in his 2nd or 3rd run into a prep, but with a very slight chance of rain over the next 24 hours, Plymouth shouldn’t be far off.
Count of Limonade disappointed owners and punters alike at Canterbury last week when he decided he’d like to take the jockey for a gallop pre-race around the track. He was then scratched at the barrier. Obviously feeling great within himself in his new stable and surrounds with Peter Robl, this son of Duke of Marmalade is set for a race at Rosehill on Saturday over 2000m. Let’s hope he remembers his manners and we can get a good grasp of where he is race-fitness wise. Following a long time between preparation’s, Count Of Limonade will take a few solids runs to get back to his best.
We wish all connections the best of luck for the weekend and let’s hope for some positive results from our Sydney team.
