Mornington trainer David Brideoake has decided to stay at home with Jugahlation and run him first-up at Flemington rather than travel him to Sydney to run at Warwick Farm.
Brideoake said the Fiesta Star Hcp (1200m) was the preferred option to kick off the Lago Delight four-year-old’s summer campaign despite the track being a little bit firmer than he would like.
Brideoake, who co-trains Jugahlation with David Feek, has scratched the gelding from the Guaranteed $1 Million TAB Big6 Hcp (1000m) at Warwick Farm.
“I think the Flemington race is a good race for him. We actually accepted with him in Sydney, probably looking for softer ground,” he said.
“But this race in Melbourne I thought was the better option.
“He’s got a very good first-up record and I think his run when placed down the straight at Flemington in June would put him right into this race.
“He hasn’t had a jumpout but he’s done plenty. He’s been down to Balnarring a few times and basically hr gets fit pretty quickly.
“He’s a big powerful horse.”
Ben Melham takes the ride on Jugahlation who was a first-up winner last preparation over 1000m at Sandown on a heavy track on June 15 before he ran third to Spurcific and Set And Forget over 1200m in his only appearance at Flemington 10 days later.
The Flemington track was rated dead (4) on Friday but track manager Mick Goodie said it was likely to improve to a good (3) during the meeting.
“You’ve just got to be so cautious at this time of year for the longevity of horses on these firm tracks,” Brideoake said.
“You just have to not give them too much.
“So he’ll probably have two runs in and then we’ll give him a rest and bring him in for a winter campaign.
“He’s a specialist wet tracker but he’s a good enough horse to give you one or two good runs on top of the ground.”
AAP TURF
