Richard Jolly is mindful of Kemalpasa’s big weight heading into the $107,250 Listed Wylie Stakes (1100m) at Morphettville on Saturday.
Jolly said the horse was in good order but also cautious with a host of rivals on the minimum and plenty of improvement to come with the Melbourne Spring Carnival on his radar.
“He’s had a nice prep leading in,’’ Jolly said.
“He’s obviously not fully wound up, I’m mindful of that, but at the same time he’s a genuine racehorse who likes to win,’’ he said.
Kemalpasa will have to carry 62kg which has been slightly offset by an inside barrier draw.
“It’s certainly a bonus to draw there,’’ Jolly said.
“He should be able to land a nice spot without doing any work. He can lead, he can sit behind them if he can, he has the choice which wouldn’t have been the case had he drawn wide,’’ he said.
Kemalpasa is marked a $3.20 favourite with tab.com.au while the Phillip Stokes’ Terbium has been the big firmer since markets opened on the back of a smart Morphettville jump-out.
He was a brilliant winner first-up from a spell last campaign and was quickly backed into a $4.40 second favourite with the Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr-trained Parlophone the only other horse under double figure at $6.
Meanwhile, Jolly is hoping for a Sunday swansong at the Mindarie-Halidon Cup.
The leading trainer has been a regular to the Mallee over the past three decades and has Korodon lining up in the feature.
“I won the Cup a few years back with Artful Terra and have never been afraid to take a nice horse there,’’ Jolly said.
“We took Kemalpasa there to win his maiden and I also kicked off a horse called Alcobro there a few years ago and he won his next two starts in town.
“I’d love to win the last Cup at the Mindarie track, I’ve been supporting the place for 30 years, I used to ride at the meeting and our stable has always liked having runners at the meeting,’’ he said.
