Time has proven the making of consistent gelding Air Assault, who now sits on the brink of surpassing $1 million in prize money should he capture Saturday’s Ballarat Cup.
Trainer Andrew Gluyas says the nine-time winner from 33 starts has finally matured into a genuine racehorse after earlier preparations where he wanted to do everything too quickly.
Air Assault will line up in the Listed Ballarat Cup (2000m) for the second consecutive year, having finished seventh behind Berkeley Square in last year’s edition.
While he has yet to win beyond 1800 metres, he does own two placings from three attempts at 2000m and was placed in the Group 1 South Australian Derby over 2500m.
“He ran well in the Vase (at Moonee Valley) as a three-year-old and he’s been placed at Group 1 level, so he has the capacity to run a good 2000 metres, no doubt,” Gluyas said.
“He’s now matured into himself. In previous preps, he had that tendency to run hard on the pace, and it was more about him, rather than us being able to hold him up.
“He’s shown that tendency now to be a bit more settled in his races.”
This year’s build-up to Ballarat has been deliberately lighter than 2023, though the stable again used the Cranbourne Cup as the key lead-in. Last year Air Assault chased home Globe; this year he finished sixth after striking traffic.
He arrived at Cranbourne in winning form through the Gawler Cup (1500m) and Listed John Letts Stakes (1600m).
“He came out of our carnival in the winter and had one more start at Sandown and then we gave him a good break,” Gluyas said.
“That was always the plan, to give him a good break and hope to have him peaking at the backend of spring.
“He came up well, his second and third-up runs here (Adelaide) were great and he did race well, I thought, at Cranbourne, although he had to race in an awkward position and subsequently lost his position, but he still hit the line quite well.”
Following the Ballarat Cup, Air Assault will freshen before an autumn campaign aimed at Adelaide’s April–May carnival races, with another spring tilt pencilled in thereafter.
“He’s been a fantastic horse and has taken us on a good ride,” Gluyas said.
Punters can compare odds for the Ballarat Cup at Australia’s top betting sites.