Ciaron Maher will assess conditions and decide whether Future History takes his place in the Listed January Cup (2000m) at Rosehill on Saturday.
The eight-year-old gelding has been in near career best form, winning consecutive listed races at Randwick and Flemington, but Maher said the drop back to 2000m, along with the prospect of rain in Sydney could see Future History saved for another day.
“I’ve got to work out what I’m going to do for the race,” Maher pondered.
“I’m sort of targeting him at next week, and I’ll work out whether I’m backing him up or not.
The Listed Australia Day Cup (2400m) will be run at Warwick Farm on Monday the 26th of January, and with Future History coming off a last start win in the Bagot Handicap (2800m), Maher is unsure whether Saturday’s shorter trip would suit.
“It depends on the race shape. If he leads, it doesn’t matter how far the race is,” Maher said.
“You question whether he’d go 2800 (metres) before last run, but when they just canter along, it doesn’t matter whether it’s 2000 or 3000 (metres).
“It’s just whether the race shape works for him because he likes to dictate and get his own way.”
With the bureau of meteorology predicting anywhere from 9-45mm of rain on Saturday in Sydney, Maher will monitor conditions with the 61kg topweight, who is rated a $4.60 chance with Nash Rawiller booked to ride.
“You could run him every day, one hundred per cent,” Maher said.
“It just depends on the track, if it’s wet I’ll probably just pull him out.”
