Victoria Derby runner Complacent continues to please the Peter Snowden stable as he zeros in on the time honoured three year classic at Flemington on Saturday.
Complacent will go into the Victoria Derby at Flemington in top order. Photo by Steve Hart.
Complacent is one of three runners Snowden will saddle up in the Group 1 $1.5m AAMI Victoria Derby (2500m) and is clearly the stable’s top pick ahead of San Diego and Tupac Amaru.
“He’s great, we’re very happy with him. He’s ticking over nicely,” Snowden’s Melbourne foreman Paul Snowden told Racenet.
Even though Complacent in going into the 2500m Victoria Derby with three weeks in between runs, Paul Snowden is quite confidence it won’t affect his performance.
“We’re confident that he’s as good as he can be. He’s not the grossest of horses and we did not want to run the risk of running last Saturday and then backing up seven days later,” Paul Snowden said.
“No disrespect to the Moonee Valley race but we did not want to risk winning that race and then compromise his chance for this Saturday.”
“The Derby is the race we want to win.”
Snowden decided to bypass the Group 2 $220,000 Mitchelton Wines Vase (2040m) at Moonee Valley last Saturday which was won convincing by the John O’Shea trained Savvy Nature who is now challenging Complacent for favouritism.
Complacent has beat Savvy Nature the last two times the three year olds met with O’Shea looking for a chance of luck to reverse the placings.
“The two times we have met Complacent we have had to give him a big start and couldn’t peg him back,” O’Shea said.
Savvy Nature was runner up to Complacent in the Group 3 $200,000 PJ’s Irish Pub Parramatta Gloaming Stakes (1800m) at Rosehill on September 28 before finishing third to the Snowden colt in the Group 1 $400,000 Moet & Chandon Spring Champion Stakes (2000m) at Randwick on October 12.
Snowden is looking to continue his dominance of the three year old majors this season and as well as winning the Group 1 Spring Champion Stakes, the Darley run organisation has also collected the Group 1 $1m BECK Caulfield Guineas (1600m) with Long John and the Group 1 $400,000 Coolmore Flight Stakes (1600m) at Randwick and the Group 1 $500,000 Schweppes Thousand Guineas (1600m) with Guelph.
There is nothing between Complacent and Savvy Nature in the Victoria Derby market order with both hovering around the $4.20 mark with the David Payne trained Criterion at $8 and the Group 3 Norman Robinson winner Polanksi at $8.50 just in ahead of Snowden’s second pick San Diego at $9 while the stable’s third runner Tupac Amaru is marked as a $16 chance.
