The younger brother of Group 1 winner Smokin’ Romans is bound for Adelaide in search of his first city victory.
Flamin’ Romans runs in the Sportsbet Handicap (1950m) on the Morphettville Parks tracks on Saturday, his third try at success on a city course.
Like his brother Smokin’ Romans, Flamin’ Romans has been a slow developer.
Smokin’ Romans won his first two starts on the Ballarat synthetic track and it took until start 13 for the gelding to gain a win in town.
But that got Smokin’ Romans on a roll, going on to run second in the Bendigo Cup in 2021 and following it up with a win in the Pakenham Cup, with better to come the following year with victory in the Group 1 Turnbull Stakes (2000m) at Flemington.
Smokin’ Romans was then afforded the opportunity to run in the Caulfield Cup and Melbourne Cup in 2022, finishing seventh in both races.
A five-year-old, Flamin’ Romans has been taken along quietly by the Ciaron Maher stable and will be lining up for his eighth start on Saturday.
He was successful in a Bendigo maiden at start number two and second-up this preparation took out a 1741m race at Geelong.
Most recently, Flamin’ Romans finished third over 2040m at Moonee Valley on August 10.
Flamin’ Romans is prepared from Maher’s Ballarat stable, and assistant trainer Jack Turnbull said the gelding found the Moonee Valley circuit against him last time out.
The gelding was scratched from Cranbourne on Thursday after drawing wide in gate 17.
“He’s a progressive stayer that wants a bigger track, so the track over there should suit him,” Turnbull said.
“The Moonee Valley run was good, but it was possibly the wrong track in hindsight.
“He was back and chasing and had to come around horses. He’s a big-framed horse and just got out of sorts and didn’t corner as well as we would have liked.
“There was a lot of merit in the run, and at a track like Sandown, Bendigo, Geelong, he’d be able to level up.
“He had a back-straight gallop on the grass up at Ballarat to prime him for this race.
“The work was good, he pulled-up fine, so he’s ready to and providing he travels over fine, I’m sure he’ll run well.”