How Shaiyhar recovers from a Cranbourne track gallop will determine whether the imported gelding takes his place at Ballarat.
A stone bruise last week put Shaiyhar on the back burner for a few days, but the Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young stable are hopeful the gelding will be right to take his place in the Listed Ballarat Cup (2000m) on Saturday.
Shaiyhar is one of 29 horses entered for Saturday’s contest with final acceptances for the race due to be taken on Wednesday morning.
The Irish-bred gelding made an immediate impact when he made his way to Busuttin and Young’s yard from France in 2023 but has struggled to reach the grade they had hoped.
Earlier in the year Shaiyhar defeated Deakin in a 2000m race at Flemington before notching placings in four of his eight subsequent starts.
At his most recent appearance, Shaiyhar finished third behind Kingswood and Saint George, both potential opponents on Saturday, in the Listed Cup Day Plate (1800m) at Flemington on Melbourne Cup Day.
“He was good when he ran third in the Listed race at Flemington,” Young said.
“But he had a little bit of a stone bruise last week that was causing a bit of a concern.
“He galloped up good on Saturday and pulled-up nice and sound. We gave him a little more work on Tuesday, and we’ll see how he is before making a final decision.
“He loves 2000 metres, which is a little bit further than last start and hopefully Ballarat is not a wash out like it has been in previous years.
“He doesn’t like it too wet and hopefully the weather gods are in his favour.”
The Ballarat track was rated a Heavy 8 when nominations closed for the meeting on Monday.
Fine weather is predicted in Ballarat on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday with temperatures ranging from 25 to 30 degrees, while showers are forecast for Saturday with a top of 19 degrees.
