Having won the two-year-old Group 1 feature at Caulfield, Artorius will attempt to add the three-year-old Group 1 feature to his record.
The 2021 Caulfield Guineas has been the spring aim for Artorius, and it has been finally decided that is the race the three-year-old will next run in.
The Group 1 race for three-year-olds over 1600m will be run at Caulfield on Saturday.
Trained by Anthony and Sam Freedman, the stable had been considering a switch back to the 1200m of the Group 1 Coolmore Stud Stakes at Flemington on October 30, but after much deliberation have decided to stick with their original plans.
Artorius is yet to win in three starts as a three-year-old after capturing the Group 1 Blue Diamond Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield in February before running sixth in the Group 1 Golden Slipper (1200m) at Rosehill the following month.
At his first two starts this campaign, Artorius finished second in the Group 3 McNeil Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield on August 28 before Mr Mozart had the better off him in the Listed Exford Plate (1400m) at Flemington on September 11.
The Freedman stable then sent Artorius to Sydney where he ran home from back in the field to finish fourth to In The Congo in the Group 1 Golden Rose (1400m) at Rosehill on September 25.
Sam Freedman said Damian Lane had been booked to ride Artorius on Saturday.
“You only get a chance to run in a Caulfield Guineas once and he can have a look at the straight track at Flemington in the autumn,” Freedman said.
“We set the prep around going there (Caulfield Guineas), so we should be finishing the job, hopefully.
“We just need to see a bit of speed. Those sit and sprint races haven’t been good.
“The Exford Plate didn’t suit while the Golden Rose had reasonable tempo and he was finishing off.”
In latest betting on the Guineas with TAB, Artorius is the $5 second favourite behind the Godolphin colt Anamoe at $2.50 with Coastwatch, Forgot You and Mr Mozart all sharing the third line at $15.
The final field will be declared on Tuesday.
