Racing
Stakes races kick-off for Samangu
Samangu will kick off her summer campaign in a sprint race at Caulfield Heath.
Trainer Grahame Begg is always looking for the best way to place his horses.
The Cranbourne-based horseman has Stakes races in mind for lightly raced Samangu who makes her return in the Sportsbet More Places Handicap (1000m) at Caulfield Heath on Saturday.
The Listed W J Adams Stakes (1000m) at Caulfield on January 24 and then potentially the Group 1 Oakleigh Plate (1100m) at the same track the following month are races that Begg has flagged for the mare.
Samangu has won five of her seven starts but has not raced since winning over the 1100m journey at Caulfield in March.
A set-back early in the mare's spring preparation resulted in her having to be turned out before Begg started again with a summer campaign in mind.
But a lack of suitable kick off points resulted in Begg thinking outside the square and it resulted in Saturday's race being changed from a benchmark 84 to a benchmark 90 contest.
With a handicap rating of 95, but allowing for the 2kg mares' allowance, Samangu shares the topweight of 60.5kg with Beast Mode in the 1000m dash.
Her 60.5kg impost will reduce to 58.5kg following the claim of Logan Bates.
"We got them to change the rating of the race as there was no race for her to run in during the whole month of December," Begg said.
"She's ready to run now but then she has to wait another five weeks for the Adams if we don't decide to give her another run.
"We said there was a benchmark 84, so why not make it a benchmark 90, and get a wider spread.
"They did listen and they changed it, but she's still got a big weight with the claim."
Begg said Samangu was far from being at her top for Saturday's return having had two trips to Caulfield Heath for trials in the lead up.
At her most recent outing, Samangu finished fourth behind Beast Mode on December 11.
"It's a kick off point for her," Begg said.
"She's had two trips over to Caulfield to trial and we're happy with the way she's going, but the 1000 metres may be a tad short first-up, especially with a horse like Beast Mode in it.
"She's probably going to improve with the run under the belt as she's a big girl, but very talented, and we're hopefully going to get to the Oakleigh Plate with her."
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