Mick Price‘s decision to use beach training to complement his city base continues to pay off with Princess Of Queens winning the Bellmaine Stakes at Caulfield.
Price has joined trainer Mathew Williams to have a team at Warrnambool, although Princess Of Queens remains in training at Caulfield.
However Saturday’s Group Three winner is still a regular at the beach, travelling to the bayside suburb of Mordialloc for some salt-water therapy.
Price says the beach rejuvenates older gallopers and is a key ingredient in Princess Of Queens maintaining form.
“They get a bit sick of blokes like me trying to train them, so we just leave her alone, keep her happy, take her to the beach, give her a few gallops and turn up on race day,” Price said.
“She’s always been a low-profile horse in the stable but bit by bit she’s done her job.
“She’s had a few goes at winning a Group race before so to be winning a Group race at this stage is fantastic.”
Ridden by Dwayne Dunn, Princess Of Queens was sent off the $4.40 favourite in defeating Fuhryk ($9.50) by a half neck with I Am A Star ($4.60) three-quarters-of-a-length away third.
Want more racing news? Cups Betting delivers you the latest horse racing news from all the major thoroughbred cups and feature races.