Group 1 plans discussed for a pair of Mick Price winners from Saturday

Caulfield was a happy hunting ground for Mick Price on Saturday, with bigger targets ahead in the spring.

Two winners on the Caulfield card on Saturday for Mick Price have tongues wagging on betting sites with the possibility of bigger targets for the spring. The pair were two-thirds of a treble on the card for jockey Damian Lane.

While the first Group 1 of the season at Randwick on Saturday got most of the attention, the eyes that were on Caulfield saw a pair of smart winners representing the stable of Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr.

As we head into one of the best parts of the racing year, the spring carnival, we look at these winners and where they might be seen next in Group 1 company as they take a step up in class compared to the fields they faced at the weekend. There are more challenging targets ahead, but they both won with a little in hand and look capable of holding their own.

Mick Price

It is more than 30 years since Price took out a training license. More than 2750 winners (44 of which have come in Group 1s) later, Price is more than capable when he gets the right ones through his hands. 

There are five horses in the stable at present who are rated 100+, and while the pair of Caulfield winners have a little way to go to obtain a rating as lofty as that, they both have the potential to rate much higher than at present and could add to Price's number of winners at the top level. 

Amenable

The Thoroughbred Club Handicap was the four-year-old's first target of the new season, and he didn't disappoint. With a wide barrier of over 1400m, he covered more ground early than ideal but got into the perfect rhythm back in the field. Picking up well down the outside, he didn't do much once in front and won with a little more in hand than the official margin suggests. 

Said to have improved both mentally and physically since last season, it was not like his three-year-old campaign was a poor one. Only beaten a length in the Caulfield Guineas last October and 1.4 lengths in the Australian Guineas in March, he has already shown ability in Group 1 class.

If connections are correct and he has improved ahead of the spring, then the Epsom Handicap and the Toorak will be legitimate targets for him in the coming weeks. With that solid form in Group 1 company already in the book, he has a great base to build on.

Charm Stone

Damian Lane got off the three-year-old filly on Saturday with a huge smile, declaring on tv that "I think she's a little bit special". She certainly looked that way when she won the Group 3 Quezette Stakes. 

Settling well off the speed over 1100m, she challenged the widest of all into the straight, closing in ominously before digging deep to repel the runner-up. The pair pulled nicely clear of the third, clocking a smart time in the process.

She has only had four races in her life, looking professional when asked to go and win the contest. There should be plenty more to come from her, so it was not a shock for the Group 1 Coolmore Stud Stakes to get a mention afterwards as a potential target for her.

Mick Price has always been a trainer who gets the best out of his horses. A yard that has not always had the very top talent could this spring be one to remember for the stable? Most long-term racing fans will hope so.