Lindsay Park to get guide on Magic Millions hopefuls Four Ace and Jenni’s Meadow at The Valley
Lindsay Park has a dual-pronged attack at The Valley in a bid to qualify Four Ace or Jenni’s Meadow for next month’s $3m Magic Millions 2YO Classic at Gold Coast.
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Lindsay Park ambitions for next month’s $3m Magic Millions 2YO Classic at Gold Coast with Four Ace and Jenni’s Meadow hinge on Saturday at The Valley.
The first-starters, a son and daughter of freshman sire Brutal, must win the 1200m 2YO Handicap to bank the prizemoney required to qualify for the January 13 Gold Coast showdown.
Trainer Ben Hayes qualified Croatian Belle for the Magic Millions last year by winning at The Valley.
Four Ace and Jenni’s Meadow will be ridden by Damian Lane and Daniel Stackhouse respectively.
The $82,500 first prize is enough to slingshot either Four Ace or Jenni’s Meadow to about 16th in the MM 2YO Classic order of entry, pending other race results on Saturday.
Four Ace jumped out nicely over 800m last week at Flemington, running fourth behind older horses.
“I’ve been very happy with him,” Hayes said.
“He’s a horse we have a high opinion of, he went really well.
“He’s shown us above average ability and I think we’ll find out how good he is on the day.”
Jenni’s Meadow finished second in an 800m heat at Werribee.
“If they can win (Saturday) and they pull up well, they will head in that (Gold Coast) direction, with both of them I think it gives them the best opportunity, with the prizemoney,” Hayes said.
“It ensures they get in the race, which is hard to do these days because there’s not many races in Victoria to actually qualify your horses for the Millions.”
TAB has Jenni’s Meadow and Four Ace at $6 and $8 respectively.
The qualification runway for Victorian two-year-old has felt shorter this year, despite the same amount of pre-Christmas races compared to previous seasons.
Changes to the spring schedule saw the Listed Merson Cooper Stakes and MM Ballarat 2YO Classic run in December as opposed to November timeslots previously.
The Two-Year-Old race on Saturday is the fourth metro prizemoney-equivalent contest this month for the babies after the Merson Cooper, Ballarat 2YO Classic and a 1000m handicap at Caulfield.
Lindsay Park two-year-old first-starter Viola Vivace saluted in emphatic style on Thursday at Mornington in a three-horse race after scratchings.
Meanwhile, Hayes, who trains in partnership with brothers JD and Will, has Croatian Belle in a 1000m Benchmark 70 on Saturday.
Croatian Belle won her first two starts, both at The Valley, but struggled to recapture the form in six subsequent appearances.
“She was really disappointing last start, I’m not sure why,” Hayes said.
“She did pretty well as a two-year-old, got her rating right up and probably hasn’t trained on.”
Croatian Belle was beaten 10 lengths last start at Ballarat on rain-affected ground.
Hayes has three other runners at The Valley including Independent Road going for hat-trick, last start Caulfield winner Dublin Journal and the consistent mare Aperitivo.
Originally published as Lindsay Park to get guide on Magic Millions hopefuls Four Ace and Jenni’s Meadow at The Valley
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