Race day previews for Canterbury on Wednesday

Trainers Rob and Luke Price will look to build some momentum at Canterbury on Wednesday ahead of a big card on their home track at The Gong on the weekend.

Flashy gelding Zaragoza is looking for back-to-back wins with new trainers Robert and Luke Price. Picture: Bradley Photos

Trainers Rob and Luke Price are looking for some metropolitan success ahead of one of the biggest days of the year on their home track at Kembla.

The Illawarra-based stable will no doubt make their presence felt in Saturday’s The Gong meeting at Kembla Grange but are hoping to build some momentum at Wednesday’s Canterbury card.

Lucky Bay and Zaragoza will board the float for a trip up to Sydney and Luke Price is confident both are set to make their presence felt.

The first of the two comes up in the fifth race with Lucky Bay looking to break through for the stable at his fourth run since coming over from New Zealand.

“It’s going to be good to get him out to the 1900m and it looks a good stepping stone for a Midway in a couple of weeks,” Price said.

“Drawn the right barrier and he doesn’t put himself far from the speed so he’ll be up there and making his own luck.

“I did think he was a little disappointing at Kembla last time out though.

“But the way the track raced all day just didn’t suit his racing pattern much at all so there is that.”

Trainer Luke Price is hoping for a metro double on Wednesday. Picture: Jeremy Ng/Getty Images

Price races Lucky Bay with the same owner that’s in city winner Satness and the Kembla-based conditioner draws plenty of comparisons between the two galloper.

“It’s the same owner as Satness and there’s a few similarities between the horses,” Price said.

“We’re still learning about him but he’s done well in work and shown us that he’s a tough bugger - which is what Satness is.

“But we haven’t got to the bottom of him yet and there’s plenty of improvement still in him to come.

“It’s a good race for him and I expect he’ll be a good each-way chance.”

Lucky Bay will face the likes of Maximum Dividend and Kirikan in the Benchmark 72 contest where TAB have him as a double figure chance in betting.

His stablemate Zaragoza is rated the better hope of the two with TAB installing the galloper as a $7.50 chance in the final contest on Cantebury’s seven-race card.

Price admits he tried to stretch Zaragoza out to 1400m to become a Provincial-Midway Championships horse but the galloper is now set to stick to the shorter trips.

“I was just trying to make him go further than what he wanted to,” Price said.

“We thought he’d be able to stretch to 1400 metres and be a Provincial Championships type of horse but I just think he’s not the sharpest tool in the shed and you’ve got to keep him to the sprint trips.

“Gives you every impression that he wants to go further but he just gets a bit fierce and one dimensional so we’re keeping him at the shorter trips.

“It’s a lovely soft draw for him though and Keagan knows him really well.

“I think he’ll stalk the speed, flow into it at the right time and they’ll know he’s there.”

Joe Pride’s galloper Accredited opened as the favourite and Price said he knows that horse well, given he’s got the brother in his stable.

“I’ve got a lot of respect for the favourite Accredited,” Price said.

“I’ve got the brother here so I’ve been following that horse very closely.”

Familiar face could be Easy solution for Coyle mare

Trainer Jason Coyle admits his talented mare Not That Easy can live up to her name but hopes a familiar jockey can do the trick when they head to Canterbury on Wednesday.

The Warwick Farm-based conditioner says Not That Easy is “not the easiest horse to ride” but the fact that she’s lining up with Jess Taylor aboard for the 10th time helps.

But despite her behavioural issues, Coyle says the six-year-old daughter of Casino Prince is in super order ahead of the Pinatubo @ Darley Handicap (1200m).

“She’s going super,” Coyle said.

“Finds a nice little race in town for herself and she was very good last time out as well.

“Jess Taylor does know her, which is always handy and she’s not the easiest horse to ride.

“So it’s nice to have a jockey that you don’t have to give many instructions to, given she’s already won on her in the past and rode her a few times as well.”

Trainer Jason Coyle. Picture: Bradley Photos

Not That Easy won back-to-back races over the 1200m trip when last in work and gets back up to that distance third-up into her latest campaign.

Prior to that she had not won at 1200m in 15 starts but Coyle believes it’s going to suit Not That Easy down to the ground.

“She won quite well at the 1200m last preparation,” Coyle said.

“It was when she strung together back-to-back wins and she gets out to the trip at the right time of her preparation with two runs under her belt.”

The second of Coyle’s brigade also gets to Canterbury on Wednesday third-up with Proud Image looking to break a drought between wins in the final race on the card.

She too also has Jess Taylor on board but sticks at the same distance third-up into the campaign.

“She’s going good as well and I was happy with the way things went at Wyong last start,” Coyle said.

“She had an average second-up record but I thought she went well when she wasn’t beaten far behind a pretty handy horse.

“Getting here third-up will have her in her comfort zone and I’d expect her to be running well.”

With rain in Sydney in the days leading up to Cantebrury’s midweek card, the track is in the soft range but with good weather expected for the rest of the way, it’s likely to not see a downgrade.

“It’s in the soft range at the moment and with not much rain, you would think it ends up as a Soft 5, which won’t harm her chances at all,” Coyle said.

Originally published as Race day previews for Canterbury on Wednesday