Melbourne trainer Mick Price doesn't take anything about the first day of The Championships for granted and his assessment of his horses heading to Randwick on Saturday was interesting.
He arrived in Sydney after a plane delay on Wednesday and went straight to see world champion sprinter Lankan Rupee and exciting two-year-old Ready To Victory. The problem with travel it doesn't go to plan, which led to frustration for Price. However his horses seem to be settling into Sydney.
"Lankan Rupee looked okay, Ready For Victory was fantastic," Price said.
"It was good to see them after the couple of extra hours I spent on the plane.
"When you travel horses to a day like this one, they have to be the right horses.
"I have had a bit of success at Randwick in group 1s but I know they have to be at the top of their games. If they're not you're wasting your time and I don't want to do that."
Lankan Rupee will defend his TJ Smith title at Randwick after demolishing his rivals 12 months ago but Price admits there were a few issues after his midfield finish in the Newmarket Handicap.
"He had a couple of aches after the race. My Sunday vet couldn't find anything but the chiropractor found some little things but we think they have been fixed up," Price said.
"We bought him up here a couple of days early to get him ready for it, just to let him settle in and get used to it.
"He has a routine at home but this trip will help him and he has Thursday and Friday to be right for Saturday."
Lankan Rupee had plenty of time to settle into Sydney 12 months ago with a five-week gap between the Newmarket and the TJ Smith but that gap was reduced to three weeks with the change of programming this year.
He won a trial between runs last year but Price decided to get him to Sydney earlier than usual and let the five-time group 1 winner work on the dirt at Randwick on Wednesday morning.
"It was a bit wet, so we didn't let his head go. He worked over 1000 metres and the rider was happy with him," Price said.
"It looks like it is going to be a genuine 1200 metres on Saturday with Rain Affair and Lord Of The Sky there, so we are going to find out on race day how he is when the pressure is right on.
"He has done it before but Terravista, Chautauqua and others aren't going to be pushovers, are they."
Ready For Victory will be looking for a lucrative payday in the Sires Produce Stakes after crabbing his way down the straight in the Golden Slipper but still managing to run fourth.
Price has added the lugging bit to his gear after toying with the idea of a set of blinkers and is delighted with the way he continues to improve.
"To do what he did his second start in a race in the Slipper was great and if he went straight there might have been a different result," Price said.
"He just continues to improve every time I see him, which is exciting and he deserves his shot at a race like the Sires.
"He is still a colt, so a group 1 would be nice."
