GRANITE PRINCE'S ROCK HARD PERFORMANCE

By Graham Potter | Wednesday, January 17, 2024

The Michael Nolan stable enjoyed another runaway winner when Granite Prince took a BM65 Handicap over 1350m at Doomben on January 17.

It was the third stable winner in a row where there was absolutely no stress in the run home. In fact, just as it was with Exotique Miss’s ten length romp and Motell’s win by over four lengths, the connections of Granite Prince could have started making their way to the payout queue before their winner crossed the line.

Adding spice to the win was the fact that the four-year-old son of Rothesay started at double-figure odds of $13.

Those odds were a bit difficult to fathom.

True, Granite Prince had turned in two ordinary runs prior to this assignment, but the first of those results came at the end of a preparation ... his two runs prior to that hiccup returned two wins in performances which were more in keeping with Granite Prince’s true ability.
And the second of those ordinary results came when Granite Prince resumed when needing the run and racing over a distance (1100m) well short of his best.

With Nolan stepping up the distance test to 1350m second-up and the booking of top jockey Ryan Maloney also pointing to possible improvement to come, the $13 was certainly a generous price.

Maloney immediately placed Granite Prince in prime position, making every use of his number two barrier to race in second place early.

Granite Prince did race keenly in the early stages, but Maloney got his mount to settle as he continued to track the leader, the $15 chance Destiny’s Republic all the way to the home turn.

On straightening, Granite Prince had Destiny’s Republic firmly in his sights and Maloney allowed Granite Prince to start going through his gears before pulling the trigger coming through the 200m mark and leaving both Destiny’s Republic and all of the chasing pack in his wake.

The 4.16 winning margin carrying 60kg said it all.

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