Lionel Cohen will make the most of improving track conditions to fast-track a Sydney return for luckless sprinter Aeronautical.
Cohen capitalised on an extended entry deadline to nominate Aeronautical for the Octagonal Handicap at Rosehill.
And the trainer is all but certain to commit the Group One placegetter to a seven-day back-up after Aeronautical ended a long Melbourne campaign with a midfield placing behind Stradbroke Handicap aspirant Lumosty at Flemington on Saturday.
“The weather looks alright at this stage for the weekend and he’s taken his race well so I thought I would put him in and see what happens,” Cohen said.
“But more than likely we’ll have a crack at it.”
Cohen sent Aeronautical to Melbourne to run in the Standish Handicap on January 1 and he’s been there ever since for an eight-start campaign that included Group One appearances in the CF Orr Stakes and the Newmarket Handicap.
“I wanted to avoid the wet tracks up here (in Sydney) and there were some nice races for him but unfortunately we couldn’t pull one of them off,” Cohen said.
Aeronautical finished on the wrong end of a three-way photo in the 2013 Newmarket and Cohen is adamant he could have easily figured in this year’s placings.
“He should have run into the money in the Newmarket,” Cohen said.
“He went for a gap between Lankan Rupee and Terravista and Lankee Rupee shifted his ground and we checked and went to the line hard held.”
Aeronautical has been given 58kg on Saturday, 1kg less than topweight Rain Affair and Cohen is undecided on a jockey booking.
“I’m not sure if I’ll claim,” he said.
Cohen said Aeronautical was left exposed and raced in the worst part of the track before finishing three lengths behind Lumosty.
“We hit the front early when the others fell away and I don’t know how much inferior the inside was to the outside but it appeared to be that way,” he said.
