Lamasery will likely target the Geelong Cup

The Caulfield Cup was deemed a stretch too far for Lamasery this weekend after the five year old put in two big runs in the last few weeks.

First he made it back to back wins with a triumph over 2400m in the Colin Stephen Handicap, then it was another mile and a half trip when second to The Verminator in the Metropolitan Handicap.

He’s had a week off since then but according to David VanDyke even by this Saturday he wouldn’t be ready to fire.

“He had those two hard 2400m runs back to back in the space of a week, he just hasn’t done as well as I would of liked,” he said.

“I need more time to get him to a state where I’ll be happy with him.”

It’s an impressive call from Vandyke given the temptation to push onto a race like the Caulfield Cup would have been too much for many trainers.

It’s a testament to the respect he has for the horse and somewhat of a thank you after all the success he’s brought him so far this campaign.

“He’s a horse that we haven’t concentrated on his program as much as looking at him and letting him tell us where he wants to go next,” he said.

“We’re not going to change that now as much as the dream is the Caulfield Cup and we’d like to have a runner.”

What this means for his future program is that any number of races remain on the cards, the Moonee Valley Cup, the Mackinnon, the Bendigo Cup as well as the most likely target, the Geelong Cup.

If he does go that route it would be a huge race with Geelong becoming a real hot spot for horses heading to the Melbourne Cup especially the internationals as shown by Americain in 2010.