Catani Gardens primed for King's Birthday success at Mornington
The Anthony and Sam Freedman -trained five-year-old, $5.50 favourite in the 2000m Benchmark 74 Handicap, led all the way to win at Ballarat last start.
The Irish-bred Catani Gardens, owned by Lloyd Williams and James Packer, won a Mornington maiden by three lengths last year in his first Australian start.
The Camelot gelding then failed at The Valley when fading out of contention before being spelled.
Sam Freedman said Catani Gardens 'should be really competitive' on Monday with apprentice jockey Tom Prebble again in the saddle.
'He was good last time (Ballarat) and 2000m seems like his wheelhouse at the moment,' Freedman said.
'He's been working well and it looks like a suitable race.
'He's a strong worker and seems to like to get on the speed … he should be really competitive.'
Freedman is happy for Catani Gardens to dictate future race plans based on performance and merit.
'We're just taking him through his grades and seeing where he gets to,' Freedman said.
'We'll raise the bar and hopefully he continues to step up.'
Freedman has six runners at Mornington including Everain and Winter Hail in a 1200m maiden.
Blue Hawaiian, trained by Peter Moody and Katherine Coleman, is a $2.70 favourite for the race from Freedman pair Everain ($3.10) and Winter Hail ($4.20).
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