The weather gods are smiling on Robbie Griffiths and Verdad.
Scratched from a meeting at Flemington recently because of a wet track, Verdad is likely to get his preferred firm footing when he heads to The David Bourke (1620m) on Saturday.
The Flemington circuit was rated a Good 4 on Friday.
Verdad missed a start on a rain-soaked Flemington on May 17 before being scratched from a race at Sandown the following week.
At his most recent appearance, Verded was slow into stride before running third to Jimmy The Bear over 1600m at Caulfield on May 31.
“He was good at Caulfield. He missed the start, I don’t know why, and it changed the game plan for us,” Griffiths said.
“We wanted to be one-one, and he ended up out the back and that is not his style, so he did a good job to run third and he would have got benefit from that as he hadn’t had a run for a while.
“This time he’s three weeks between runs which is good for him after a soft jump-out on Monday, and he’s back to Flemington, where he won and you would think he would be a chance, but the weather is the key.
“Rain is forecast to stay away and hopefully it will remain in the good range.”
Griffiths is mindful that we are in the middle of winter and that can have an impact on the tracks.
He is therefore considering his options with Verdad.
“He’s been in work a while, but when you see him in the yard, he’s in great condition, as though he is in summer,” Griffiths said.
“We’ve probably been a little bit fortunate in Melbourne with the weather conditions, for his chances, but if the rains do come, this could be his last run for a while.
“But whilst he’s going well, and the tracks are around the (slow) five range, he might be lucky to go through to the final, but we’ll just see.
“I think he’s enjoying being in work rather than standing around in a cold paddock.”
The Listed VRC-CRV Winter Championship Series Final (1600m) is run at Flemington on July 5, but Griffiths said he needs to weigh that up against a potential spring campaign, which again could be influenced by the weather.
Country Cups could be on Verdad’s agenda through the spring.
“He’s got the opportunity at the moment to run between benchmark 100’s, open handicaps, a Listed Country Cup, like the Seymour and Sale Cups, and then he could have a crack at a couple of races over the spring,” Griffiths said.
“It all depends on what happens in his next run or two as to where his rating gets to leading into the spring, but he’s got the versatility there to have a look at few options.
“He could be an ideal horse going to the Crystal Mile at The Valley into the Cranbourne Cup, but all that would be dependent on his form at the time, and the weather.”
