Co-trainer Jamie Edwards has revealed that he could not be happier with Sertorius ahead of the 2014 Turnbull Stakes at Flemington on Saturday.
Sertorius will head to the 2014 Caulfield Cup after running in the Turnbull Stakes this weekend. Photo by: Race Horse Photos Australia
Sertorius started his 2014 Spring Racing Carnival campaign with a promising sixth in the Group 1 Memsie Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield on August 30 and he was far from disgraced when seventh behind Dissident in the Group 1 Makybe Diva Stakes (1600m) at Flemington on September 13 after having no luck in the run.
The Galileo gelding completed a strong piece of work on the course proper at Flemington this morning and Edwards told Racing Ahead that the seven-year-old is exactly where he needs to be heading into the Group 1 Turnbull Stakes (2000m) this weekend.
“He is perfect and I can’t be any happier,” Edwards said.
“His two runs this time in he has run against high class horses at their pet distance and we drew the outside barrier and had no luck.
“He was three deep and bumping into another horse in the Makybe Diva, got beaten by three lengths and that will do.
“That is very much a pass for horses like us.
“We will now go up to the 2000 metres, which is starting to get into our range and his work could not have been any better this morning.
“He is ready to go, we will put this under our belt and head off to the Caulfield Cup.”
Sertorius will be stepping up into a more appropriate distance range in the Turnbull Stakes, but Edwards does not believe that the talented stayer will be at peak fitness for the Group 1 event this weekend.
The Freshwater Creek-based trainer said that his goal is to have Sertorius at peak fitness for the Group 1 Caulfield Cup (2400m) and he believes that his star galloper will be a genuine chance in the feature event of Melbourne Racing Club – if he can draw the right barrier.
“The main thing is that I wanted to have him 100 percent right for the Caulfield Cup,” Edwards said.
“The Turnbull Stakes was the race I wanted to get him to and that will give him two weeks into the Caulfield Cup.
“He is right on target and we are starting to come into his distance range and not racing against genuine milers, which is good.
“The Turnbull is certainly not what he has been set for, but I would love him to drew barrier four or five in the Caulfield Cup.”
Sertorius is currently available at 2014 Turnbull Stakes odds of $34, with Lucia Valentina ($5) currently favourite in the betting market with Ladbrokes Australia.
