Bendigo trainer Shaun Dwyer will be out for a home town victory with smart stayer Anudjawun who has been set for a second-up tilt at the $125,000 Golden Mile.
Dwyer said the the Yamanin Vital six-year-old, who missed a run in last year’s Melbourne Cup when balloted out, was going well and he had been looking forward to Anudjawun’s autumn campaign.
“This is probably the best he’s been. He’s actually a lot more mature horse now,” Dwyer said.
“He’s a six-year-old now and those (New Zealand) South Island-bred horses do take a bit of time.
“His legs are great and we’re really looking forward to it but he really has to start putting himself into these races.
“The options include going to the Easter Cup after this and then I’d like to take him to Sydney for the Chairman’s (Handicap) and I’m definitely thinking of running him in the Sydney Cup.”
Dwyer would like to get Anudjawun’s rating up from the current 93 to beyond 100 to give him the chance to get into this year’s Melbourne Cup.
“It doesn’t worry me that he didn’t get into the Melbourne Cup last year because in retrospect he couldn’t have won it but he’s a more seasoned horse now,” Dwyer said.
Anudjawun has surprisingly only won once in 21 starts – a maiden over 1400m at Bendigo as a three-year-old at his second start.
But he has been placed on 10 other occasions, earning $143,775 overall in prize money.
The gelding’s career highlights include running second to Once Were Wild in the Group Two Chairman’s Hcp (2600m) at Randwick last April.
Last spring he finished third to Niwot in the Group Three Lexus Stakes (2500m) at Flemington and fourth to Americain in the Group Two Moonee Valley Cup (2500m).
Anudjawun showed enough when he resumed with a seventh to Rockpecker in the Listed Shaftesbury Avenue Stakes (1400m) at Flemington on March 3 when he jumped away slowly and ran on from 11th on the home turn to be beaten 4-1/4 lengths.
“He came through it quite well and this race (the Golden Mile) was always in our minds for him as he’s run pretty well second-up before,” Dwyer said.
“He’d had just the one jumpout and he finished off the 1400 metres quite nicely at Flemington but was probably in the worst part of the track.
“I think the horses who finished out wide were probably in far better going on the day.
“But he likes give in the track, which he will get again tomorrow, and I’m pretty sure he’s fit enough to run the mile (1600m).”
Bendigo had 12mm of rain overnight and on Friday afternoon Bendigo Jockey Club chief executive Ian Hart said the track had been upgraded from a slow (6) to a dead (5) with fine weather predicted for Saturday.
The rail will be in the true position.
