South Aussie horse Regalo Di Gaetano has rocketed into All-Star Mile contention.
The Richard and Chantelle Jolly-trained galloper now finds himself in sixth position following an avalanche of votes in the past 48 hours that now has him ahead of SA Derby winner Russian Camelot, Cox Plate winner Sir Dragonet and Phillip Stokes’ Mr Quickie in voting.
“He’s got a group of Italian owners who are very passionate and love their horses,” Richard Jolly said on the All-Star Mile Show on RSN.
Part-owned by Bruno Disotto, the horse is named in honour of his late father and races in the colours of the Italian flag and Jolly said he was a horse deserving of a place in such a unique race.
“You could say he’s one for the battlers,” Jolly said.
“They actually owned the mare. They sold the mare and when Gaetano (Sr) died, they tracked down where she was and purchased this bloke when he was just a foal.
“The owners love racing, they love their horse, they’re very passionate people and people you want to see get into this race.”
A winner of the Listed John Letts Cup at Morphettville back in October, Regalo Di Gaetano produced a solid first-up effort behind Behemoth in the Listed Durbridge Stakes over the sprint trip which gave the stable plenty of encouragement the horse in for another big campaign.
“It was better than I thought,” Jolly said.
“He finished 4.8 lengths behind Behemoth in an 1100m race which is very unsuitable for him.
“He ran in that without a barrier trial and I was more than happy that he got that close to (Behemoth).”
Regalo Di Gaetano will continue his All-Star Mile campaign at Morphettville on Saturday when he will jump from a tricky inside gate with promising apprentice Jacob Opperman taking the ride.
“He goes around in a 1300m race, which I another stepping stone,” Jolly said.
“He’s won eight of 21 starts, he’s a capable horse still improving (and) he’s only lightly-raced.
“He’s drawn one, (so) he’s going to map back on the fence and will need a bit of luck.
“But certainly the way he ran first-up, if he gets the right run, you’ll see him hitting the line hard and certainly could win it.”
The black out for voting will be on Friday night, before voting closes on Sunday night and Jolly would love nothing more than to have the All-Star Mile locked in while a trip to Melbourne either way is certain.
“If he’s guaranteed a start, we’ll probably just reserve him and wait for the race,” he said.
“If something changes we have the Blamey Stakes up our sleeve.”