Whether Shaiyhar takes his place in Saturday’s Ballarat Cup hinges on how he pulls up from a Cranbourne gallop earlier this week.
The Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young-trained import suffered a stone bruise last week, briefly derailing preparations, though the stable hopes he can still line up in the Listed Ballarat Cup (2000m).
Shaiyhar is one of 29 entries for the feature, with final acceptances due Wednesday morning.
The Irish-bred gelding made a strong start to his Australian career after arriving from France in 2023 but has since struggled to fully deliver on early expectations.
He defeated Deakin over 2000m at Flemington earlier this year and has placed in four of his eight starts since.
At his latest run he finished third behind Kingswood and Saint George — both possible Ballarat opponents — in the Listed Cup Day Plate (1800m) on Melbourne Cup Day.
“He was good when he ran third in the Listed race at Flemington,” Young said.
“But he had a little bit of a stone bruise last week that was causing a bit of a concern.
“He galloped up good on Saturday and pulled-up nice and sound. We gave him a little more work on Tuesday, and we’ll see how he is before making a final decision.
“He loves 2000 metres, which is a little bit further than last start and hopefully Ballarat is not a wash out like it has been in previous years.
“He doesn’t like it too wet and hopefully the weather gods are in his favour.”
The Ballarat surface was rated Heavy 8 when nominations closed Monday.
Fine weather is forecast Wednesday through Friday with temperatures between 25 and 30 degrees, though showers may return on Saturday.
If you’re placing a bet this Ballarat Cup day, compare bookmakers at JustHorseRacing’s bookmaker hub.