A trip to Queensland did not pan out for Mahamedeis the way Nick Ryan had envisaged.
After one run, Ryan pulled up stumps on the Brisbane excursion and brought Mahamedeis back to his Flemington base where he will run in the Neds Same Race Multi Handicap (2000m) on Saturday.
It is the same course and distance that Mahamedeis was successful over on April 17 and which followed a third-place finish in the Group 3 Easter Cup earlier that month
Ryan is hoping to put Mahamedeis’ last two performances behind him, a sixth over 2000m at Caulfield on April 24 and his ninth in the Group 3 Premier’s Cup (2400m) at Eagle Farm on May 29.
The trainer aborted the Brisbane trip when rain failed to eventuate and has brought the gelding home to suitable conditions.
And in the back of Ryan’s mind is a bigger prize, the VOBIS Gold Stayers (2400m) at Caulfield on July 24.
“The horse is going well but it’s a month between runs and he’s had the trip back,” Ryan said.
“But he seems to have travelled back well and there’s a couple of good races coming up for him.
“There’s the VOBIS Gold race that he won last year in four weeks, so he’ll run around on Saturday and we’ll probably aim towards that.
“He worked well on Tuesday, but he needs the run on Saturday.”
With four weeks between Saturday’s race and the VOBIS Gold Stayers, Ryan said he would contemplate a hurdle school for Mahamedeis at Cranbourne.
He said blinkers had been removed from Mahamedeis’ race day gear and replaced with winkers in a bid to get him to settle.
“The race doesn’t look to have come up that strong and he seems well weighted,” Ryan said.
“I think if the horse is at his best, he will show up on Saturday.”
