Choisir the gift that keeps on giving
It has been almost 20 years to the day since Choisir’s Royal Ascot heroics and the champion sprinter is still finding ways to make his mark on the Paul Perry stable.
The hulking chestnut is the sire of Perry’s only two runners at Randwick on Saturday, progressive three-year-old Nosey Parker in the Midway Handicap (1200m) and Cruel Summer in the Racing And Sports Handicap (1400m).
A win by either would be timely given it will be just seven days shy of the 20th anniversary of Choisir’s King’s Stand Stakes triumph, the first of the Perry-trained speedster’s two victories during a trailblazing European foray.
Markets suggest Nosey Parker ($5.50) is the better chance of Perry’s pair and while the gelding bears little physical resemblance to his sire, he has shown his share of ability.
“He’s thrown to the dam’s side. He’s not a speed horse, he gets back a bit,” Perry said.
“Choisir was a heavy horse, this horse has a lighter frame, but he has always shown something.”
Nosey Parker took six starts to break his maiden, saluting at his home track of Newcastle In April then backing it up with a six-length demolition at the same venue two weeks later.
He made it a hat-trick when lumping 60kg to a tough victory last start, earning him a shot at Midway company in town.
Perry credits jockey Blake Spriggs with helping Nosey Parker find winning form and says if the Randwick track doesn’t improve from it’s soft 5 rating, all the better.
“Blake gets on well with him and rides him well. He understands him and I think he has helped a lot,” Perry said.
“Last start was a game win because he was wide and he kept coming from back in the field.
“I think he likes a soft track, but he should run well. He has gone on, he hasn’t gone backwards.”
Cruel Summer is also adept on wet ground, three of his four wins coming on heavy tracks.
While he is unlikely to get that on Saturday, Perry is expecting him to appreciate a distance rise to 1400m.
“He’s better suited on the wet, but I think the 1400-metres will suit him a lot better and Kathy (O’Hara) has won on him before,” he said.
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