Under different circumstances, the Ciaron Maher yard would have preferred to wait another week before unveiling promising youngster Unit Five. But after another sharp Cranbourne jump-out on Monday, the unbeaten son of Supido is set to debut in Saturday’s Magic Millions VIC 2YO Classic (1100m) at Caulfield Heath.

Maher Racing’s National Assistant Trainer, Jack Turnbull, said there is no single template when placing a talented juvenile.

“He’s unbeaten in his jump-outs and he’s physically the type that can head to the races off a short turnaround,” Turnbull said.

“It’s never ideal and you would like to go 12 days in a perfect world, but there’s no written rule.

“The race has come up fairly light, and we look one of the better ones from the trials, along with Guest House, going into it.”

Unit Five won his first Cranbourne jump-out last month under Ethan Brown, before Thomas Stockdale partnered him in Monday’s hit-out. Stockdale will continue the association on race day.

“We instructed Tom to get a feel and not get to the bottom of him with the view of running him on Saturday,” Turnbull said.

“He’s bounced through the run. He’s a spritely, outgoing type of horse, and he’s been like that since the jump-out.”

With the Magic Millions 2YO Classic (1200m) at the Gold Coast looming on January 17, Unit Five remains a potential traveller should his debut warrant a northern campaign.

Turnbull said the stable still had flexibility with placement and could delay his first start by a week if they believed the colt would benefit from more time.

“The other option for him is there is a $150,000 race over 1000 metres at Cranbourne as a back-up,” Turnbull said.

“He could potentially head north, but everything would have to fall into place.

“So, he could run Saturday, or the following Saturday, and then if you run top two you are pretty much qualified and then you can look north.”

Unit Five currently leads the market at $2.80, marginally ahead of Guest House at $3.20 with online bookmakers.

For those keen to play early, compare prices for the VIC 2YO Classic via leading Australian betting sites.