Morphettville trainer Andrew Gluyas is set to launch his four-time stakes winner, Air Assault, in Saturday’s Group 3 Behemoth Stakes (1200m) at his home track.
The four-year-old gelding, sired by Justify, has secured victories across distances from 1400 to 1800 metres.
Notably, he also finished third in the Group 1 South Australian Derby (2500m) on May 4. Despite his successes, Gluyas admits the team is still uncertain about Air Assault’s ideal distance.
“We probably still haven’t worked out what his best trip is,” Gluyas told Racing.com.
“Going into the Derby, we thought he might struggle with the distance because that was the case during the spring last year when he ran in the VRC Derby.
“But his effort was very game, and he ran the 2500 metres out strongly, only going down by a small margin after leading the entire way. He looks like he’s returned quite well from our point of view.”
Looking ahead to the weekend, Gluyas is optimistic about the Behemoth Stakes as a stepping stone for the Leon Macdonald Stakes.
“I’m looking forward to him resuming in the Behemoth Stakes on Saturday, which will hopefully set the foundations into the Leon Macdonald Stakes.
“I think he’ll need the run on Saturday, although his first-up efforts in the past have been pretty good.
“From there, we’ll make some more decisions going forward about where we take him.”
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