A decision on whether star sprinter Chautauqua will run in Saturday’s Group 1 Oakleigh Plate at Caulfield will be made on Wednesday morning according to co-trainer Wayne Hawkes.

“The bottom line is there is a float booked for Thursday night to come to Melbourne,” Hawkes told After The Last.

“We’re going to decide in the morning whether to accept or not, and make the decision at the last minute.”

Should the Hawkes stable decide against running him in the Oakleigh Plate (1100m), they would run the three-time TJ Smith Stakes winner in the Canterbury Stakes (1300m) at Randwick the following week.

“The bottom line is there’s not many weight-for-age races to run in. If you’re in Sydney, you’ve got to run in races like the Galaxy,” he added.

“It’s a bit Oakleigh Plate like – they’re not really the places we’ve gone with our best colts. He’s not a colt, but our best sprinters… because in the Toorak and Doncaster, there’s a winner but there’s six hard-luck stories. You have more chance and more luck in a weight-for-age race, because (in handicaps) most of the other horses shouldn’t actually be in the race.”

Chautauqua showed his trademark turn of foot in a recent Warwick Farm barrier trial when finishing third behind Godolphin filly Vellor.

Article from JustHorseRacing.com.au