Arentee a future carnival hope says Meagher

By Glenn Davis

Trainer Chris Meagher believes promising sprinter Arentee is a future carnival performer but is in no rush to target the autumn or winter carnivals this year after he tackles the male’s division of the Magic Millions Rising Stars at the Gold Coast on Saturday.

Arentee missed out on a golden ticket into the Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap in June when the four-year-old was edged out by the Tony Gollan-trained Tick Tock Queen in The Gateway at Eagle Farm last month.

“I’ve got nothing in mind for him just yet after he missed getting an automatic run in the Stradbroke,” Meagher said.

“I think he’s up to being a carnival horse in Brisbane or Sydney but we’re in no rush with him and he’ll be going for a spell after Saturday.

“This will be his fifth run in eight weeks and he’s still a prep away from his best both mentally and physically.

“I think he’ll be more of a Stradbroke horse as a five-year-old next year.”

Arentee has won four of his 11 starts and is coming off a last start win for stable apprentice Melea Castle in a Class 3 race over 1200 metres at Doomben on December 24.

“He’s a promising horse and there’s not too many horses who go from winning a maiden into winning three Class 3's,” Meagher said.

“He’s now a Class 4 horse and on his ratings, he’ll go very well and there’ll have to be something that’s pretty good to beat him.

“But, I can’t see anything that jumps out at me.”

Meagher has knocked back several offers from Hong Kong to buy Arentee.

“I’ve had three big offers from Hong Kong to buy him but we decided to keep him,” he said.

“He’s been in work a long time and he will definitely spell after Saturday.”

Arentee’s only blemish in his career was when he finished sixth behind the Barry Lockwood-trained Petronius at Doomben on November 12.

“He was first-up that day and was flat after he went too hard in a gallop on the Tuesday before the race,” Meagher said.

“He lost eight kilos after the run and he’s never done that in his life.

“It took him eight weeks to get over it.”

Meagher has booked Kerrin McEvoy to ride Arentee whose namesake Arenti won the Group 1 Lion City Cup for the Meagher stable in Singapore in 2006.

“Kerrin won on him at Eagle Farm last year and rode him when he ran second in the Listed Queensland Day Stakes,” Meagher said.

Arentee is raced by a similar ownership group and wears the same colours as the former Singapore star, Arenti.

“The same owners are in this bloke and they got the same name but it’s spelt differently,” Meagher said.