Gary Portelli is keeping his options open with Group One winner Gold Trail who could compete in either Queensland or Sydney later this week.
The $200,000 Magic Millions Sprint (1000m) on Saturday has been the plan but Portelli is also considering keeping the gelding at home in Sydney to run in Friday night’s Listed $100,000 Canterbury Classic (1100m).
“Since I’ve seen the nominations for the Gold Coast race I’m going to keep the Canterbury Classic on the agenda as well,” Portelli said.
“I’ll nominate for Canterbury as well and weigh up the two fields on Monday.
“His two barrier trials have been good and he looks like he’s come back as well as ever.”
Portelli’s concerns surrounding the Magic Millions Sprint is that the race is 1000m and there will be plenty of speed right from the outset.
“I’m thinking at the Gold Coast he would need to draw a good barrier and it would need to be dry,” he said.
“I took him up for a 1000 metre race at Doomben last year and he drew wide and was caught wide because they go fast up there. He had a gut buster that day. I don’t want that to happen again.”
The seven-year-old gelding, winner of the 2010 Railway Stakes in New Zealand, hasn’t started since his sixth in the Starlight Stakes (1100m) at Rosehill in August.
He won two barrier trials last month ahead of his return.
Gold Trail is owned by Glenn and Lisa Morton who live in Queensland and have travelled to watch him compete in Singapore, New Zealand and England.
Portelli said if the Mortons wanted to watch the sprinter compete in their own backyard then Gold Trail would be on the float for the Magic Millions contest.
Meanwhile, another stable star Somepin Anypin is in pre-training ahead of his return to Portelli’s stable later in the month.
Somepin Anypin broke the Rosehill 1400m track record in October before adding the Group Three Hawkesbury Gold Cup (1600m) in November.
He is being aimed at the Group Three Liverpool City Cup (1300m) first-up on March 10 at Warwick Farm with the winner of that race exempt from ballot and penalty for the Doncaster Mile.
“Obviously we’ll be guided by what he does first-up, whether we then go to the Canterbury Stakes, George Ryder Stakes and Doncaster,” Portelli said.
“But that’s the plan at this point.”
AAP TURF
