Perast upstaged Summer Passage, Kementari and Royal Symphony to win the 2017 Ladbrokes Caulfield Guineas Prelude at Caulfield this afternoon.

Perast recorded the biggest win of his career in the Ladbrokes Caulfield Guineas Prelude. Photo by: Ultimate Racing Photos
There was plenty of speed in the early stages of the Ladbrokes Caulfield Guineas Prelude, but Summer Passage and Perast ended up taking up the running and they would fight out the finish.
Kementari and Royal Symphony both loomed but never really threatened and it was left for Perast to fight off a gallant Summer Passage in the final stages of the race.
Jockey Damian Lane said that Perast still has some issues with over racing, but he was impressed with the toughness that the three-year-old showed in the final stages of the Ladbrokes Caulfield Guineas Prelude.
“It probably took me the first 500 to get him to switch off, but he got around the corner well and he was too good,” Lane said.
“It was a big run last week and to back-up a week later was impressive.”
Trainer Paul Perry elected to back-up Perast following his run in the Golden Rose Stakes last weekend and he was clearly delighted that the move has paid off.
He confirmed that Perast will press on to the Ladbrokes Caulfield Guineas in a fortnight and he is confident that the Snitzel colt will relish the step-up to 1600 metres.
Trainer Paul Perry believes that Perast still has plenty of improvement left in front of him and he is confident that the promising colt will relish the step-up in trip to 1600 metres for the Ladbrokes Caulfield Guineas.
“He is a nice colt and he has come down here very solid in condition,” Perry said.
“He has run in a couple of Group 1 races at home and I thought he would run well today.
“His run the other day in the Golden Rose was really good.
“They went very hard in that race and he was attacked all the way.
“I think the mile will suit him much better than today and he can go even further than that.”
Kementari chased home Perast and Summer Passage to finish third, while Ladbrokes Caulfield Guineas favourite Royal Symphony was never able to get into the race.