LIGHTLY raced colt Villermont capped off a big Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival for Aaron Purcell when the three-year-old scored an impressive victory in the $250,000 Sandown Guineas on Saturday.
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Villermont defeated Peaceful State and stablemate Black Sail in the Group 2 race over 1600 metres.
Purcell, who took over training duties from Ciaron Maher after he was suspended for six months at the start of October, has trained numerous winners since Maher’s suspension started including Merchant Navy and Aloisia who won Group 1 races over the spring carnival.
The quietly spoken Purcell predicted a bright career for Villermont.
“We’ve deliberately given him a light spring,” he said. “We’ve always had a big opinion of the colt. We knew he would get back and be finishing off hard. He works like a machine at home and we were expecting him to run well. He will furnish into a lovely horse with a bit of time. He’s heading to the paddock now. There’s plenty of nice options open for him in the autumn.”
Purcell gave credit to stable staff for his success since he took over the operation.
“I’ve been very lucky there are great staff at the stable,” he said. “Ciaron had put some excellent structures in place before he was suspended and I’ve been fortunate to have benefited from them.”
Purcell’s veteran galloper Swacadelic ran second in the Sandown Cup behind Fanatic.