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By Ray Hickson

With a Golden Slipper berth tucked under his arm, trainer Gary Portelli is now eyeing two rich two-year-old features in the autumn worth $7 million with exciting colt Sejardan.

Trainer Gary Portelli (Pic: Steve Hart).

The Breeders’ Plate winner proved to Portelli he’s the ‘real deal’ with a dynamic last to first performance to take out the $1m Inglis Rural Property Golden Gift (1100m) at Rosehill.

Portelli, who trained the 2017 Slipper winner She Will Reign, said Sejardan will be aimed at the $5m Golden Slipper in March via the $2m Inglis Millennium which is run on February 5.

“He had to do what he did today to prove to me he’s the real deal,’’ Portelli said.

“It was a strong race and the backmarkers weren’t playing today. He’s just done everything you want to see. He is the real deal.

“He’s got that beautiful big action, he can accelerate quite easily and he wants to win. When he gets in those high pressure races when there’s high speed up front it plays into his hands.”

Sejardan ($5.50) sprinted down the middle of the track and withstood a late surge from Shalatin ($4.40) with Ojai ($4.80) a half length away in third. Sejardan and Shalatin firmed to $15 with TAB in the 2022 Golden Slipper market.

Portelli said he’ll ease up on the colt now but with the quick turnaround into his next target it won’t be a long break and he’s confident the horse doesn’t need one anyway.

“My job now is to give him a break and get him back and have him in first class order for the big one,” he said.

“Now that he’s qualified for the Golden Slipper we’ll aim up more than likely at the (Inglis) Millennium, a $2 million race, and we’ll probably go around a fortnight from the Golden Slipper.

“You don’t have to peak him before the Slipper now. All I have to do now is make sure I manage him and have him in good order on the day. There is no doubt he’ll improve on what we’ve seen.

“He’s got an old head on a young body. He relaxed beautifully in the birdcage. He’s just a gem to work with. He is a beautiful horse to deal with and geez, I don’t know where he’s going to stop.”

Jockey Jason Collett said the win was a little better than it looked as he was flushed out a little earlier than he wanted and had to sustain a long run to the line.

And, like Portelli, he feels there’s plenty to work with in the autumn.

“He’s got attitude which you want, he did get his leg up at his first start and had to be vetted, so there are antics there which hopefully in time will be ironed out,’’ Collett said.

“Horses like him are going to be lovely, they’ve got a frame to fill into so time like that will do him well."

While Portelli is happy to charge into the autumn with Sejardan, as far as Shalatin is concerned his trained Joe Pride is just as excited about what lies ahead for his colt.

Sejardan wins the Golden Gift at Rosehill

Shalatin jumped a lot better than he did on debut in the Kirkham Plate and was in front of Sejardan early in the straight but in contrast to the winner, the son of Shalaa had no idea what he was doing but still attacked the line.

“He’s still so raw. He’s exciting, he’s going to be back in the autumn,’’ Pride said.

“He could be anything, he’s an exciting horse. For me now the job I’ve got is to get him race savvy enough by the autumn.

“If it doesn’t come around for him by the autumn he’ll be there in the spring. Either way he’s a really exciting prospect and he’ll get there.”

Check out the replays and results from Golden Gift day at Rosehill