A crucial gallop on Tuesday morning will determine whether promising stayer Sertorius steps out for his first Group One assignment in the CF Orr Stakes.
Sertorius had a successful spring carnival with wins in the Bendigo Cup and Group Two Zipping Classic with a close second to Precedence in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes sandwiched between the two victories.
The six-year-old son of Galileo has been earmarked for a return in Saturday’s C F Orr (1400m) at Caulfield but co-trainer Jamie Edwards wants to see how the gelding gallops on Tuesday before deciding whether he kicks off his campaign on Saturday or is held back for another couple of weeks.
“He’ll gallop in the morning and if he works well he’ll go there and if not he’ll run in the Futurity,” Edwards said.
The Group One Australian Cup next month is expected to be a major autumn test for Sertorius with the Group One BMW (2400m) in Sydney also on the radar.
Cox Plate winner Shamus Award headlines the 10 nominations for the Orr but entries have been extended until Tuesday for Australia’s first Group One of 2014.
Shamus Award, to be ridden by Craig Williams, is one of three three-year-olds nominated for the weight-for-age feature along with Victoria Derby winner Polanski and the promising Eurozone.
The Bart and James Cummings-trained Eurozone is also entered for the Group Two Autumn Stakes (1400m) for three-year-olds on Saturday’s program.
Polanski has also been nominated for the Autumn Stakes but Dean Yendall has been booked to ride him in the Orr.
Shamus Award has had two jump-outs at Flemington in the past two weeks, including a solid hit-out last Friday and trainer Danny O’Brien says the Orr Stakes was the right race for the Cox Plate winner’s return.
“All Too Hard ran second in the Cox Plate (in 2012) and he resumed in it last year. It’s really just in the right spot,” O’Brien said.
“If he runs against the three-year-olds he gets a big penalty, and he’s already beaten the older horses at weight-for-age once. So it makes sense.”
The Peter Moody-trained Moment Of Change – a Group One winner over the Orr Stakes course and distance in the 2012 Rupert Clarke Stakes – was narrowly beaten first-up in the Australia Stakes (1200m) at Moonee Valley after being caught wide from the outside gate and will be fitter on Saturday.
“He needed that,” Moody said of the gelding’s Australia Stakes run.
