By Brad Gray
Gary Portelli’s phone didn’t stop ringing earlier in the week and he’s hopeful that there is “more to the story” as She Will Reign heads towards Saturday’s Silver Slipper Stakes.
The brilliant two-year-old filly has made a mess of her rivals in her two career starts and repeated the dose in a recent Warwick Farm trial, which propelled her to outright favourite for the Golden Slipper.
She Will Reign's latest trial - Feb 6
The final touches were put on her this (Thursday) morning.
“She just went easy today after having a pretty solid gallop on Tuesday. She went for a canter, two laps of the track and had a swim that’s all she did. I’m very, very happy with her,” said Portelli.
Portelli, who was first granted his trainers licence in Orange in 1991, has had plenty of quick horses come through his Warwick Farm stable but few, if any, compare to She Will Reign.
“At this stage she looks it (the fastest). I’ve had some pretty quick ones in Gold Trail and All The Talk who were very fast horses in open company. She is certainly the fastest two year old I’ve had though.”
“She’s got a bit of that Charge Forward look about her. Big hind quarter, good girth and lovely length. Typical of what you see of a horse with speed, she’s got all that.
“She’s the whole package now. She’s a very intelligent horse, that’s one thing we do know about her. She’s able to keep herself very relaxed in circumstances where most horses would get a little overawed. She doesn’t get herself worked up over anything.
“Sometimes you don’t get that combination and it goes against horses that are very quick as they can get nervous. So far, she has been the model horse.”
She Will Reign's Randwick romp
She Will Reign's Kembla debut
Meanwhile, Rebel Dane is back with Portelli after a stint in quarantine having run in the Hong Kong Sprint after his spring campaign.
“He has come back enormous. You wouldn’t have thought he has travelled anywhere. He’s the best campaigner I’ve ever come across. He just loves it.”
“He’ll be trialling on the 7th of March and heading towards the TJ Smith first-up.”
View all of the form and replays for this year's edition of the Silver Slipper Stakes