Leading Kembla Grange trainer Luke Price has several 'good chances' racing on his home track and in Sydney on Melbourne Cup day. Later this month Price also hopes to be front and centre at the $1 million The Gong, Kembla Grange's marquee race day. But there is no guarantee the promising grey mare, Our Gold Hope will race in the Group 3, 1600m feature on November 22.
"We are weighing up our options. We're weighing up whether we step her up in trip. We have to have another meeting with the owners later this week," Price said. "There is a chance she will be there. My preferred option is definitely yes, but also the owners are half thinking we should go up in trip. I'm just not sure it is the right time to do that."
"It would be hard not to go to The Gong on your home deck, but I just have to speak to the owners first," Price added. Our Gold Hope has managed to win two races in its career so far. Ashley Morgan was the jockey when the mare sired by the stallion Lope De Vega out of the dam Grey Queen, won its most significant race on October 7, 2023.
Meantime, the Price stables will definitely have 'some good chances' such as Miss Hvar, racing at Kembla Grange on Melbourne Cup day. "I think Me Me will race really well in race four," Price said. "She has had a fair bit of time off but she is certainly working good, she's knocking on the door in her last three runs, with three seconds out of her last four starts."
"I also think Mr Rocket finds a race where he runs really well in, even though he's got his fair share of weight. But yeah, you could say Miss Hvar, the way she won the other day, will be really hard to beat from a good gate," Price said. Price was like most good trainers, and loved to have a runner on Melbourne Cup day.
"I'll think Smashing Time will come out from the bad barrier, and her stablemate Divine Outcast will get a run in the race. I think she is a good each-way bet for the punters," Price concluded.
