JAMIE Edwards and Bruce Elkington have set the Turnbull Stakes as the pivotal day for Sertorius Spring campaign, reports Racing Network.
Edwards said the Turnbull Stakes would determine whetherSertorius would pursue a Caulfield/Melbourne Cup campaign or a Cox Plate assault.
“It will tell us whether we go to a Caulfield Cup or if he’s sharp enough to go to a Cox Plate or whether he’s really dour and we go to a Melbourne Cup,” Edwards said.
“That’s the race (Turnbull Stakes) that’s going to tell us. It’s a mile and a quarter (sic 2000 m) and it will let us know if we stay at a mile and a quarter (sic 2000 m) or go to the mile and a half (sic 2400 m) or if is he looking for two miles (sic 3200 m).
“This will be his best prep, I have no doubt about that. The horse is absolutely perfect, he went through the weight-for-age in Sydney through the autumn and performed right up to the best.
“I know he’s up to that level of racing and back to Melbourne where you would tend to think he’s going to be better than he was in the Autumn.
“I can’t be any happier with the horse.”
Edwards flagged the Group 1 Memsie Stakes (1400 m) on August 30 as a possible Spring starting point.
Sertorius, winner of the Zipping Classic and Bendigo Cup last year and placed in the Futurity and Sydney Cup during the Autumn, has been back in work for the past fortnight after spelling at Wild Oaks in New South Wales.
“He could not be in better condition, he’s bright, he’s well. He’s absolutely perfect as to the way you would want a horse to spell,” Edwards said.