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By Ray Hickson

Luke Price thought his Golden Eagle dream with Count De Rupee was over at about the 350m mark of the Silver Eagle three weeks ago.

Robert and Luke Price. (Pic: Bradley Photos).

It’d been a plan hatched in mid-January to build what he knew was a highly promising horse up gradually to make a play for a spot in the $7.5 million XXXX Golden Eagle (1500m) at Rosehill on Saturday.

Given the gelding’s rating he needed to finish in the top three in the Silver Eagle to be guaranteed a start and when he was shunted sharply off the track on the home turn his concern turned to the welfare of the horse.

“They were the first thoughts that went into my head,’’ he said.

“I thought ‘oh God we’ve been thwarted, we’ve been smashed off the track’ and I wanted to make sure he was in one piece.

“All of a sudden he bounces up and puts himself back in the fight. He had a good blow that day and he was entitled to, he had the wind knocked out of him, and to go down half a length and run third was very pleasing.”

Count De Rupee, $15 with TAB on Friday, showed Price his plan was on target when he won brilliantly first-up at Kembla Grange on September 11.

It’s fitting, he said, that stable apprentice Brock Ryan has the Golden Eagle ride given he’s been in on the plan since its inception.

And he knows Ryan won’t let the occasion get to him given he’s won a Group 2 race on stable star Jamaea this spring and rode her in the Group 1 Golden Rose.

“I’ve known he’s this good for a long time. Brock and I work very closely and it’s very satisfying that he gets the ride, thanks to the owners,’’ he said.

“We said to each other he’d be a perfect four-year-old for the Golden Eagle a long time ago. We had to look at the big picture. He won at Rosehill on Magic Millions Day and that’s when the plan started to come together.

“I still think the best racing days are ahead of him. Let’s hope the plan comes together on Saturday.

“He really trained on from Kembla, he improved off it, he didn’t have a hard prep going into it. It was the advantage of having your home track and being able to use a Benchmark 88 as a second trial.

“He destroyed them and ran half a second quicker than Anamoe on the day and that put a great deal of confidence in me going towards the Golden Eagle.”

Price, who co-trains with his father Robert, endured a nervous watch of the Golden Eagle barrier draw earlier this week knowing a good marble was crucial to Count De Rupee’s chances.

Robert extracted gate four from the box and it means that the gelding will be able to race to his strengths and, with a bit of luck, on his own terms.

“He’s drawn to put himself in the race and keep out of trouble and make our own luck,’’ Price said.

“He’s such a professional horse. His demeanour at the track and what he does to horses on the track, these horses only come along now and then. His turn of foot is absolutely lightning.”

The Price team has two runners in the inaugural $700,000 Four Pillars Midway (1500m) and both Verbek and Kobestar are rated $34 chances with TAB.

There’s no doubt Price has a huge opinion of Verbek, the only maiden to be selected, while he said he’s been able to give last start winner Kobestar the preparation he wanted.

“I love the fact the pressure is off Verbek,’’ Price said.

“At his best run over 1500m he was stakes placed and I wouldn’t swap him for anything in the race. I reckon he is going to run a huge race, we rode him upside down the other day.”

Verbek has been a beaten favourite at his last two starts and as Price said he was ridden to try to win the race at Kensington last week rather than in his preferred pattern.

Count De Rupee wins at Kembla on September 11

“We put him out of his comfort zone when he led, he didn’t want to lead, we had to give him a dig,’’ he said.

“I can’t talk highly enough of this horse even though he is a maiden. Just ridden that little bit quieter you’re going to see a nice horse attack the line. Whether this race has come too soon we’ll see but he has been set for the race.”

Kobestar has the outside alley to contend with but Price has been rapt with him since he joined the stable earlier this year.

The four-year-old missed a planned trial prior to his first-up second behind the flying Delexo at Kembla over 1000m before he came from last to win at Gosford over 1200m on October 7.

“He really trained on from his first run,’’ he said.

“I thought if we just found the right race second-up he’d win, which we didn’t do but he was still too good at Gosford.

“When we got the slot I spoke to the guys and said I’d rather not go around again and just keep him fresh. Every time you raise the bar he steps up and I think he has a lot to offer.”

All the fields, form and replays for Saturday's Golden Eagle meeting at Rosehill