Ciaron Maher will wait on conditions before making a final call on whether Future History lines up in Saturday’s Listed January Cup (2000m) at Rosehill.
The eight-year-old gelding arrives in strong form after winning back-to-back Listed races at Randwick and Flemington, but Maher said a return to 2000 metres and the chance of rain in Sydney could see him held back.
“I’ve got to work out what I’m going to do for the race,” Maher pondered.
“I’m sort of targeting him at next week, and I’ll work out whether I’m backing him up or not.”
The Listed Australia Day Cup (2400m) will be run at Warwick Farm on Monday January 26 and, coming off a last-start victory in the Bagot Handicap (2800m), Maher remains uncertain whether the shorter trip on Saturday is ideal.
“It depends on the race shape. If he leads, it doesn’t matter how far the race is,” Maher said.
“You question whether he’d go 2800 (metres) before last run, but when they just canter along, it doesn’t matter whether it’s 2000 or 3000 (metres).
“It’s just whether the race shape works for him because he likes to dictate and get his own way.”
With the Bureau of Meteorology forecasting between 9mm and 45mm of rain in Sydney on Saturday, Maher will closely monitor track conditions for the 61kg topweight, who is rated a $4.60 chance with Nash Rawiller booked.
Punters assessing the January Cup can compare markets and conditions through leading Australian betting sites as the weather picture becomes clearer.
“You could run him every day, one hundred per cent,” Maher said.
“It just depends on the track, if it’s wet I’ll probably just pull him out.”
The post Future History on weather watch ahead of January Cup first appeared on Just Horse Racing.