Greviste chasing back-to-back city wins

Greviste has already proven a good buy for his connections and the lightly raced gelding will be out to build on it at Flemington.

A last-start Moonee Valley winner, Greviste heads to Flemington on Saturday bidding to add a fourth win from nine starts in the Bay and Ranges Region Handicap (1600m).

Warrnambool trainer Mitchell Freedman paid $36,000 for Greviste at a Melbourne yearling sale in 2015 and the gelding has already netted his group of owners $157,000 prize money.

“I just picked him out on type,” Freedman said.

“He was a big horse at the sales and looked like he was going to need a bit of time.

“He was not your typical early running horse that a lot of the other buyers are after so he suited me because I knew he would fit into my price range.”

Greviste finished strongly to win a 1600m handicap against his own age at Moonee Valley on June 3.

“I thought it was a really good win last start,” Freedman said.

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“The race probably did pan out for him and the performance may have been a fraction flattering but I thought it was a really good win and he’s come through it well and trained on from that.”

Saturday’s race will give Freedman a guide whether to press on with Greviste to the Silver Bowl Series Final (1600m) two weeks later.

A 2000m race on Saturday week at Caulfield is another option.

Apprentice Beau Mertens, the Melbourne jockeys’ premiership leader, was aboard at Moonee Valley and takes the ride again from a wide gate.

“We are just going to have to ride him where he can slot in and hopefully he can be putting in a similar performance to the other day,” Freedman said.

Freedman is recovering from a knee reconstruction necessitated by a football injury.

As he recovers, he has been unable to ride trackwork but is hoping to get back in four to six weeks.

“It has given me a different outlook to things and I’ve been able to look at the training on a bit of a different level,” he said.