Stradbroke Handicap ace: ‘He plays guitar like Jimi Hendrix, can sing and can train’

Mick Price reveals larrikin fellow trainer Mick Bell, of Jungle Edge fame, is helping to prepare Stradbroke Handicap fancy Amenable.

A larrikin fellow trainer is the Stradbroke Handicap ace for Mick Price in Brisbane as he looks to score the prestigious $3m Group 1 with Amenable.

“He plays guitar like Jimi Hendrix, can sing and can train,” Price says.

Price is referring to fellow Victorian Mick Bell – the trainer of popular former mudlark Jungle Edge – who has been in the Sunshine State working with the Price and Michael Kent Jr winter carnival team of runners.

Price says he has been happy to leave the carnival team in Bell’s safe hands, saying “he’s a very good horseman and a great bloke.”

Emotional scenes at Sandown as Jungle Edge gets up for trainer Mick Bell.

They're a dream team that look out for each other. pic.twitter.com/ZN6sAEYSWy

— Racing.com (@Racing) June 15, 2019

Price recently won a Group 1 in Queensland by as far as you could kick your hat, but the astute trainer has declared the Stradbroke is a wide open affair where the winner will need a precise ride and some luck.

Price and Michael Kent Jr-trained Warmonger stormed to an incredible Queensland Derby win by 10.4 lengths earlier this month, putting the star three-year-old on a path towards the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups.

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But Price knows it is unlikely to be an easy watch in the Stradbroke as Amenable ($10) and jockey Chad Schofield try to conjure a Stradbroke masterstroke from a wide barrier on Saturday.

Price thinks it will be the “charge of the light brigade” in the final few hundred metres of an even and wide open Stradbroke and whoever gets the best run with the most luck will probably win.

“It’s a very even Stradbroke and there’s plenty of chances,” Price said.

“If all the good horses ran up to their best it could be a difficult race for Amenable to win.

“But a lot of horses don’t always find their peak performances in these sort of races.

“My horse will need a very good ride from Chad Schofield. I’ve got no doubt my horse can show up late in the final stages of the Stradbroke, it’s just a matter of what luck he has in the running.

“He’s got to have a bit of joy from the wide barrier, if he follows the right horse and peels off at the right time he will be in the finish. It’s such a wide open race, I don’t think they know what the (betting) market will do.”

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Mick Price is striving to score the Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap with Amenable. Picture: Racing Photos via Getty Images.

In an ideal world, Price would love to see Amenable three-wide, midfield with cover and not working too hard.

If that’s the case he is sure his galloper – who boasts a Group 1 runner-up finish behind Magic Time in the All Aged Stakes at Randwick in the autumn – can be fighting out the finish.

Although Amenable’s eye-catcher in the All Aged came on a heavy (10) track that day, Price believes the gelding is adaptable on all surfaces and won’t find the good track at Eagle Farm on Saturday too challenging.

“My horse is a lovely sound horse and he is yet to jar up,” Price said.

“I don’t think the track conditions matter to him, but if it had been a heavy track it would have knocked three quarters of the field out of contention.”

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Amenable. Picture: Racing Photos via Getty Images.

Price and Kent Jr will also have Premier’s Cup winner Hezashocka contesting the $1.2m Q22 (2200m) as an $11 chance, but Price had a word of caution about his prospects on Saturday.

“His sweet spot is 2400 (m) plus a wet track,” Price said. “Drawn one, 2200 (m) and a dry track, it makes him a little bit vulnerable.”

Originally published as Stradbroke Handicap ace: ‘He plays guitar like Jimi Hendrix, can sing and can train’