Adam Chambers is convinced the race he accepted with for Major Share at Moonee Valley on Saturday is the right one for his progressive sprinter, but that does not mean he is a certain starter.
Another wide barrier in the benchmark 78 sprint has the Warrnambool horseman contemplating his options with the four-year-old, who has won four of his six starts.
Major Share won from the outside alley in a field of 10 at The Valley last time out, but Chambers is reluctant to push his luck in a bigger field at what will be his first start over 1200 metres.
“I’m ‘umming and ahhing’ whether I go around tomorrow,” Chambers said at lunchtime on Friday.
“I’ll just wait and see, probably until tomorrow morning just to see what else comes out.
“If there were scratchings by tomorrow morning and they were all on-speed horses, that might sway me to run, but at this stage (I’ll be) probably scratching.
“It’s his first go at 1200 and, in my head, I was picturing a low draw and we’d probably park in behind the first three or four and ride him cold and let him savage the line.
“But if he has another wide run sitting three or four-wide no cover, am I really going to get an answer if he runs a strong 1200 or not?
“I’ve never won a Saturday (metropolitan) race, but you absolutely need everything in your favour.”
Major Share was beaten from the outside alley in a field of five first-up at Warrnambool, when Chambers said he did not handle the Heavy track, before clocking 54.86 seconds when a strong half-length winner over Big Me in a heat of the 55 Second Challenge on December 13.
If Major Share is scratched from The Valley he is likely to take his place in the $100,000 benchmark 84 over 1100m at Geelong on Saturday week.
“I always like to place them as best as I can and put them in the right grade and that’d be a step up, it’s a (benchmark) 84 instead of a 78, so it’s a higher-rating race but he’ll only get 56kg,” Chamber said.
