Clipperton and Quinton combine again with Sun Patch and Ljungberg
Sam Clipperton says it will be like riding for family when he hops on Ron Quinton-trained emerging talents Sun Patch and Ljungberg at Rosehill on Saturday.
Clipperton learnt his trade under Quinton and since being back from a couple of years in Hong Kong he has been on only a couple for his old boss for one winner. But Sun Patch and Ljungberg could be on their way to bigger things.
“It is great to ride for Ron because he gives you confidence. I rode these two in trials the other day and they are nice horses,” Clipperton said. “Their form says that as well.
”We have a couple of wide gates, so we will need to get in back in the field and come late.”
Sun Patch, an impressive debut winner, carries form out of the Skyline Stakes, perhaps the strongest two-year-old race of the season. Although he ran fifth the calibre of opposition was group 1 standard.
The Skyline went to Microphone, the Golden Slipper runner-up and Sires Produce winner, from Cosmic Force, which was Slipper favourite, with Sires placegetter and Champagne Stakes winner Castelvecchio third. Just in front of Sun Patch was Accession, which is second favourite for the group 1 JJ Atkins next week in Brisbane.
“He has always shown us something at home,” Quinton admitted. “It is a good time for him to come back and get some racing under his belt and he is definitely a more mature horse now.
“It is good to get Sam to ride him and he got a feel of him in a trial and he will run a good race.
"It is actually really good to have Sam back and he is starting to make his mark again. He will because he is just a good rider.”
Sun Patch will need to be at his best with the two-year-old race among the strongest seen outside carnival dates. Last-start winners Splintex, King’s Champ and Exceedance will all have admirers, while Spaceboy carries Tassort form from last spring.
Chris Waller is using it as a starting point for the second campaign of Widden Stakes runner-up Rotator.
The fact Sun Patch is an $8.50 chance shows the underlying strength of the race with Exceedance, which was an eye-catching winner on debut at Wyong, the $3.50 favourite. Michael Hawkes believes he can stamp himself as one to watch for the future on Saturday.
“It’s 1100m ... 1200m would have been nice, I wouldn’t deny that, but 1100m is right up his alley and it’s a bigger track and it’s certainly going to be a plus for him,’’ Hawkes said on Sky Sports radio earlier in the week.
“He could have gone to the paddock after his first-up win. He’d done well from that run to now, if he wasn’t right he wouldn’t be running.
“He’s a colt that is going to keep improving. He’s still not there yet. We’ll probably pull the pin and get him ready for the spring or the autumn next year.’’
Meanwhile, Quinton is looking to make the most of BOBs bonuses with Ljungberg, which resumes over 1200m.
The I Am Invincible three-year-old came through last summer winning BOBs bonuses at Canterbury and on the Kensington track. He showed enough ability for Quinton to think about taking on the better three-year-olds at the beginning of the autumn, but he decided to wait.
“Stopping when we did allows us to target these races at the end of the season and let him show us where he stands,” Quinton said. “He has had a couple of trials and he is ready to go."
If Ljungberg can win on Saturday he will go to the top of the BOBs horse-of-the-year race and Quinton is hoping he can rack up a couple of wins in coming weeks.
"He is back to make the most of the BOBs bonuses, which end in a couple of months," Quinton said.