Star Rolling faces his biggest test on Sunday when the exciting son of Casino Prince lines up in a vintage edition of the $200,000 Listed TAB Cranbourne Cup (2025m). Originally aimed towards a last-minute BMW Caulfield Cup qualification, co-trainer Peter Morgan both he and his co-trainer Craig Widdison didn’t want to risk asking too much of the lightly-raced four-year-old.

“We were thinking of going to the Herbert Power to see if we could qualify for the Caulfield Cup but we just thought that it may be too much for him,” Morgan said.

“It’s virtually his first preparation, he started racing in April and went through to June and he only really had three weeks off before we started getting him ready for the Spring.

“We had to send him to Adelaide to get his rating up and we just thought that if we did have a go (at winning the Caulfield Cup) then we might bottom him out and never get him back again.”

Despite the change in plans, Morgan said Star Rolling’s Spring Racing Carnival campaign was far from finished with the Group 1 Mackinnon Stakes (2000m) at Flemington a real possibility.

“If he wins and comes through the run well we might have a crack at the Mackinnon,” he said.

“It’s a race worth $1 million and sometimes half the horses in it are going for the Melbourne Cup and haven’t got quite the turn of foot required to win.”

Set to start from barrier 13 after the scratching of Beware Of Thestorm, Morgan certainly wasn’t lacking in confidence when asked how he rates Star Rolling’s chances.

“We think we can win," Morgan said. "We didn’t draw a good barrier but there is a fair bit of speed in the race so we should be OK.

“Everytime I take him away for a track gallop he has really impressed me, if Atlantic Jewel wasn’t running on Saturday then I would have been having a crack at that race (Group 1 Caulfield Stakes)."

Should Star Rolling hope to continue his winning ways on Sunday, he will have to defeat a stellar field that includes Mick Price’s pair of high-profile imports Pakal and Bit Of Hell, dominant Benalla Cup winner Flying Hussler, JRA Cup victor Mourinho South Australia Derby placegetter Shoreham and reigning Perth Cup winner Talent Show.

Star Rolling won’t be Peter Morgan and Craig Widdison’s only feature runner over the weekend, with hulking mare Oasis Bloom staging a last-ditch Caulfield Cup bid in the Group 2 Herbert Power Stakes (2400m) at Caulfield on Saturday.

Extremely confident about her chances of winning the final ballot exempt position into the world’s richest 2400m handicap, Morgan also revealed just how high his opinion is of Star Rolling.

“I’m a bit bullish about her,” he said. “She’s the best she’s been this preparation at the moment and out to 2400 metres I think she’ll be right in the finish.

“If I had to say which horse was better than the other then I’d suggest Star Rolling would beat Oasis Bloom quite easily.”

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