Australian Guineas placegetter Mister Milton will take the first step towards an ambitious spring campaign when he resumes at Caulfield on Saturday.
Provided the track isn’t too heavy, the Norman Waymouth-trained colt will line up in the Listed Sir John Monash Stakes (1100m) which has attracted a strong field of 16 plus one emergency.
“I’m doing a weather watch at the moment,” Waymouth said.
“The whole idea is I’ve got a pretty big spring carnival mapped out and I don’t want to gut him first run back.
“But at this stage, if we don’t get any more rain, I’m very happy to go around.”
Mister Milton was Group One placed behind Mosheen and Strike The Stars in the Australian Guineas in February then failed to beat a runner home in the Alister Clark Stakes.
A subsequent veterinary check revealed a foot abscess underneath one of his shoes which hadn’t been apparent pre-race.
The abscess burst and Waymouth treated it before Mister Milton was spelled.
The three-year-old will have his first start since the Alister Clark at Caulfield and traditionally races well first-up.
“He’s come back really well. He seems to have matured a lot within himself,” Waymouth said.
“He’s pretty forward at the moment.
“I shouldn’t be biased but he looks a million dollars. His coat is enormous, he’s well.
“It would shock me if he didn’t run a forward race.”
Mister Milton was at $26 with TAB Sportsbet on Thursday and went around at even longer odds of $91 when third in the Guineas.
Waymouth, a former jockey and the regular partner of 1982 Blue Diamond Stakes winner Rancher, rides Mister Milton in all his work and has a big opinion of him.
“I told everyone weeks before that I thought he could win the Guineas,” he said.
“I’ve never made any secret of the amount of ability this horse has got.
“With him being a colt, it’s just a matter of him putting it all together in his head.”
Waymouth has pencilled in the Group Three Bletchingly Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield on July 27 as the next target for Mister Milton.
Beyond that he will be guided by the colt’s performances.
“There are four or five races but a lot will depend on his next two or three runs,” Waymouth said.
“Last time in I was chasing all the time to get a run but now he’s won enough stakes money that I don’t have to do that.
“He’s shown me what he’s got and what he’s capable of doing.
“With natural improvement and once he’s a hundred per cent fit and geared up, the sky’s the limit.”
The trainer-jockey combination of Peter Moody and Luke Nolen is favoured to win the feature with Le Societe who heads an open market at $5.
