Sterling Alexiou’s main reservation about General Salute’s upcoming attempt to secure the Sydney season’s final black-type prize, following his recent Winter Stakes success, has been negated by an overnight rain deluge.

The gelding’s four career triumphs have all occurred on rain-affected going. With Rosehill initially assessed as a soft 5 earlier in the week, Alexiou had harboured concerns that the surface might not be compliant enough for General Salute’s preferences.

However, subsequent to a significant drenching on Thursday night, the track was categorised as a heavy 9 on Friday, thereby alleviating Alexiou’s anxieties.

“Possibly back to drier ground on Saturday would have been the only negative I could see,” Alexiou commented. “A lot of his best form is on soft tracks.”

General Salute’s victory in the Winter Stakes (1400m) marked the end of a 15-month winless period, during which he had secured placings in six of his seven starts, including a second-place finish to Autumn Glow in the preceding year’s Theo Marks Stakes (1300m).

Indeed, General Salute has managed to achieve a top-three finish in 12 of his 18 professional appearances. Should he manage another win in Saturday’s Listed Winter Challenge (1500m), his prize money accumulation will edge closer to the $1 million mark.

“It was good to see him bounce back, and bounce back into the winner’s stall,” Alexiou said. “He’s held his own in terms of what he’s shown us at home since that win. It’s a nice start from the 1500 so it should give Nash (Rawiller) options from a middle-draw in a big field.

“If he can get a good spot, he’ll run his usual honest race and be a good winning chance.”

A strong performance would not only serve as the ideal conclusion to General Salute’s rewarding winter campaign but would also position him for consideration towards a Group 1 target.

Having demonstrated capability up to 1400m, he finished second to Transatlantic in his sole other outing beyond that trip. If he can maintain his strength over 1500m on Saturday, a campaign towards the Epsom Handicap (1600m) will be evaluated.

“The idea of running him at 1500 is to give us a platform to see if he’s going to run a strong mile,” Alexiou explained. “If we think he might, he could be a lightweight Epsom chance.”

Consider the betting markets for the race at the Winter Challenge.