MERTENS SECURES HOMETOWN CUP

BEAU Mertens wasn’t prepared for how emotional he would get when he experienced his first hometown Cup winner when he rode the Mick Price and Michael Kent Junior-trained Sabaj to win the Cranbourne Cup on Saturday.

Adding to his emotions, his father, the late Peter Mertens, who would have ridden many winners at Cranbourne, did not win a Cranbourne Cup.

“It’s unbelievable. I didn’t think it would hit me as hard as it has,” Mertens said.

“I was apprenticed to Michael Kent here throughout my years at Cranbourne, and now I have an association with Mick Price and Mick Kent Jnr.”

“ Mick Price has been a big part of my career for a very long time, and we’ve had a great connection and a great association. It’s fantastic to deliver in such a fantastic race.”

Price and Kent Junior made it two successive wins in the Cranbourne Cup, having triumphed last year with subsequent Group 1 winner Globe, and they are also going to aim high with Sabaj, who has had only three starts for them.

Initially, Price said they would spell Sabaj for the autumn, but Kent Junior said on RSN’s Correct Weight they may start him in the $2 million The Ingham at Randwick on December 13.

Kent Junior said Sabaj would only carry 53kgs in The Ingham while the topweight Gringotts would have 61kgs.

Kent Junior also pointed out that Sabaj still had a lot of maturing to do, so they were excited about his future.

The other feature event at Cranbourne was the $1 million slot race, The Meteorite (1200m), which was won by the in-form local sprinter Jigsaw for Cindy Alderson, who made it three consecutive wins for spring.

In his trademark fashion, he led from start to finish. Alderson said on Correct Weight she was considering taking Jigsaw to the G1 Railway Stakes (1200m) at Ellerslie on January 24.