Last year's G1 Victoria Derby winner Tarzino (NZ) (Tavistock {NZ}) will kick off his spring prep in the G1 Memsie S. going a mile at Caulfield Aug. 27, trainer Mick Price told Racing.com. The conditioner had said previously he didn't want to race the colt below a mile, but admitted to changing his mind, saying, “I didn't want to give him a gut-buster first-up over a mile. He's a pretty genuine horse and he tries very hard so I didn't want to give him a tough run in the [G1] Makybe Diva S., where I would've had to have had him tuned up and then he'd have been second-up in the [G1] Underwood S., and I felt like I would have been playing catch-up.”
Tarzino will race two-week intervals between the Memsie, the Makybe Diva and the Underwood, after which he will back up on a week's rest for the G1 Turnbull S. Oct. 2.
Price also offered a positive update on last season's G1 Blue Diamond S. winner Extreme Choice (Aus) (Not A Single Doubt {Aus}), who will start his 3-year-old campaign in the G1 Moir S. at Moonee Valley Sept. 30, with his ultimate goal being the G1 Coolmore Stud S. Oct. 29.
“I think he looks fantastic and he looks as though he's made the transition from being a running, slight 2-year-old to a grown-up, robust 3-year-old, which is a transition that he had to make,” Price told Racing.com. “He had a good spell after the [G1] Golden Slipper [where he suffered his first defeat when eighth] and I've got plenty of time to get ready for the Moir.”
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