Australian Guineas winner Ferlax will audition for feature races during the 2013 Spring Racing Carnival when he steps up to Group 1 weight-for-age level in the Memsie Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield on Saturday.

Trainer Jim Conlan is optimistic that Ferlax can be competitive in the Group 1 Memsie Stakes at Caulfield on Saturday. Photo by: Race Horse Photos Australia

Ferlax resumed with a seventh place finish behind Broken in the Group 3 Aurie’s Star Handicap (1200m) at Flemington on August 10 and had his preparation topped off with an exhibition gallop alongside stablemate Rekindled Interest after the first race at Moonee Valley on Saturday.

Trainer Jim Conlan told Racing Ahead that he is delighted with the condition of the son of Pentire and said that the four-year-old will head into the Memsie Stakes at close to peak fitness.

“He is just going along beautifully at the moment,” Conlan said on RSN.

“He is certainly ready for this race and from a stallion point of view it is an important race.

“I wanted to have him pretty right for it and I am very happy with where he is at.”

Conlan is yet to decide on a spring path for Ferlax, despite including him in the nominations for the Group 1 Cox Plate (2040m), and said he will make his decision on what the major target will be for the exciting entire after he takes on a number of the leading Spring Racing Carnival contenders in the Memsie this weekend.

“This will determine which way that we go with him,” Conlan said.

“If he performs well will be heading towards the Dato, from the Dato into the Turnbull and probably into the Cox Plate.

“If we find that he is a length or two off the top liners we might end up going for a handicap preparation, where we go to the Toorak and maybe end up in a race like the Emirates.”

Ferlax was one of the fairytale stories of the 2013 Autumn Racing Carnival, recording wins in Echuca, Benalla and Sale before coming to Melbourne to win the Group 1 Australian Guineas (1600m) and give Conlan his first ever Group 1 win in Victoria.