Trainer Jamie Edwards has revealed that the 2014 Sydney Autumn Racing Carnival path of Sertorius will be decided after he runs in the Group 2 Blamey Stakes (1600m) at Flemington on Saturday.

Sertorius performed strongly in trackwork this morning ahead of the Blamey Stakes at Flemington this weekend. Photo by: Race Horse Photos Australia

Sertorius produced one of the best performances of his career to finish second behind Moment Of Change in the Group 1 Futurity Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield on February 22, despite missing the start by two lengths, and will return to Group 1 level for the Ranvet Stakes at Rosehill Gardens on March 22 and The BMW (2400m) at the same venue a fortnight later if he performs well this weekend.

“It all depends on how well he goes,” Edwards said.

“If he goes well on Saturday we have the Ranvet Stakes in two weeks and then The BMW two weeks after that and that is probably it for him.

“Whether he goes on to the Sydney Cup I’m not really sure.

“If he struggles a bit on Saturday there is always the option of pulling the pin and going to the spring.

“I’m very mindful because he has only had 25 days off between the spring and the autumn and if I go and bash him through the autumn he is only going to have another month off between the autumn and the spring and I would hate to get to September and have a tired horse.

“We are very mindful about looking after him.”

Edwards said that the Futurity Stakes was not the first time that Sertorius has been slow out of the gates, but believes that it will be less of an issue as the Galileo gelding steps up in distance throughout his autumn preparation.

“He is an interesting horse; every now and again he is just a bit slowish out,” Edwards said.

“I think that it got exaggerated a little bit; he was slowish out but in 1400 metres Group 1 sprints you really hit the ground running and that exaggerated it a little bit.

“When he races against mile and a half horses if he misses it about the same you don’t really see it.

“In Group 1 you can’t make mistakes; that is for sure.”

Despite the minor concern about his barrier manners, Edwards said that he could not be happier with the condition of Sertorius heading into the Blamey Stakes this weekend and was delighted with his work this morning.

“He galloped up beautifully this morning so he is already to go,” Edwards said.

“He is a beauty; if every stable had one like him there would be a happy bunch of trainers.”