Les Vampires will bypass a shot at The Coast (1600m) in favour of chasing a start in this Saturday’s Gosford Gold Cup (2100m), with connections eyeing a potential Big Dance berth later in the year.

The promising gelding was accepted for both races on Gosford’s standalone meeting but has been withdrawn from the shorter event in favour of stepping up in trip. Co-trainer Adrian Bott believes the 2100m assignment is better suited to where the horse is at in his prep.

“We started to put him out in trip last start and he did a good job in that regard. He is probably better suited going further out in trip at this stage of his preparation, rather than trying to come back to a sharper mile,” Bott said.

“It will be a new test for him in grade and distance. We probably won’t run him too much past Saturday, he has done a good job, but it would open up a few nice options for him as well.

“Obviously it’s a Big Dance qualifier and that would be a great race for him down the road if he was able to feature on Saturday.”

Les Vampires showed promise early as a three-year-old, placing in the 2024 Hobartville Stakes (1400m), before undergoing throat surgery and spending close to a year on the sidelines.

His comeback has been impressive, capped by a front-running win over 1800m at Randwick last start. He’ll be joined in the Cup by stablemate New Endeavour, who finished third behind Bois D’Argent in the JRA Plate (2000m).

“He’s had a short freshen up between runs and hopefully that’s the key, keeping him a little bit fresh,” Bott said.

“This distance should also help as well so it might be a nice race for him and we can see what’s in store for him after Saturday.”

While Les Vampires skips The Coast, Tulloch Lodge will still be represented in the race by Townsend, who is looking to bounce back after fading late first-up at Randwick.

“Even the mile is short of his best but I think you’ll see a big improvement on his first-up run anyway,” Bott said.

“He will be trying to get out in trip later in the campaign. Potentially there are a couple of nice races in Queensland, unless he sticks around in Sydney for any of those winter Cups races, but he was getting out to those sort of trips last preparation and he was effective.”

Townsend is proven second-up and boasts a strong record over the mile, placing in all three starts at the distance. For punters looking to back any of Tulloch Lodge’s runners, check out our recommended betting sites for the best odds and bonuses this weekend.