Parnham Eyeing Sires Success
26 April, 2018
Thoroughbred
Hall Of Fame trainer Neville Parnham is hoping Playing God colt Platoon can deliver him his third success in the Group 3 WA Sires Produce Stakes (1400m) at Ascot on Saturday.
Platoon is yet to win from his five career starts, but has been placed on three occasions, including a second in the Listed Perth Stakes on Good Friday.
His only two runs where he has been unplaced came in the Magic Millions Two-Year-Old Classic and the Karrakatta Plate, where he finished fourth and sixth respectively.
Simon Miller’s star duo Valour Road and Lady Cosmology finished top two in the Karrakatta Plate, and are the leading two in the TABtouch market for the Sires.
Parnham conceded Miller’s runners would be hard to beat again on Saturday, but was confident the 1400m trip would suit Platoon off what he saw in the Karrakatta Plate.
“He looks very good,” Parnham told TABradio’s The Sports Daily.
“He’s had a good couple of weeks since that race.
“The 1400 is naturally going to be better for him.
“I’m sure he will acquit himself very well.”
Platoon will once again be ridden by Steven Parnham from barrier three, while Valour Road, who is looking to become the first horse to complete the Magic Millions-Karrakatta Plate-Sires Produce Stakes treble, is drawn the outside gate in the 10 horse field.
Parnham has won the Group 3 feature on two previous occasions, with Brava Fortune (2008) and Playing God’s older brother God Has Spoken (2009), and a win to Platoon will move him to within one of Fred Kerlsey and Lou Luciani, who are the leading the active trainers in WA Sires Produce Stakes history.
However, Parnham said he wouldn’t be concerned if Platoon didn’t add to his list of successes in the race, given he feels the colt will prosper in his three-year-old season.
“The fact there’s been no shin soreness and nothing else wrong with him, I’ve kept him going,” he said.
“I think he has a good future as a three-year-old getting up to a mile.”
Meanwhile, Parnham will saddle up tough sprinter War God in the City Of Belmont Community Trophy (1400m) on Saturday, where he is second-up for the campaign.
War God was beaten by three-and-a-quarter-lengths when first-up behind Belter on April 14, but Parnham said he was impressed by what he had seen from the gelding so far this campaign.
“He’s come up really well this campaign, I think he’s come up better than he did last campaign,” he said.
“They were a bit slick for him first-up.
“I’m looking forward to the Belmont season with him.”
Tim Walker