Mick Price is warning punters to keep away from his star galloper I’m Thunderstruck (NZ) (Shocking) when he is first-up in the Gr.1 C.F. Orr Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield on Saturday.
The Kiwi-bred Group One winner had a stellar spring, winning the Gr.1 Toorak Handicap (1600m) and A$7.5 million Golden Eagle (1500m), but Price, who trains in partnership with Michael Kent Jnr, said he heads into the weekend in need of the run.
“I am happy with the preparation he is having but I think he is still a bit toey, he is a bit large in condition and I think he will need the run,” Price told RacingHQ.
“You will see him improve into the Futurity (Gr.1, 1400m) and then you will see him hard to beat in the All-Star Mile (A$5 million, 1600m), he will then take his place in the Doncaster (Gr.1, 1600m).
“He had a reasonably long preparation to get him into the Golden Eagle and then he came home from Sydney quite sour so I had to give him a nice break. They are all big races but you can’t do everything, so he is a bit underdone.
“Realistically we don’t think we can (win). I would be surprised. All I need to see is for him to show up third, fourth, fifth, or sixth, run on and get a good report from Jye McNeil, and move onto his next start where he will go better.”
Bred by Tony Forlong and Jennifer Jones, I’m Thunderstruck was initially prepared in New Zealand by Matamata trainer Daniel Miller for whom he won his 1000m trial at Te Aroha before being sold privately to OTI through bloodstock agent Phill Cataldo.
