Trainer Robbie Griffiths is feeling optimistic ahead of Saturday’s The David Bourke (1620m) at Flemington, with Verdad finally set to get his preferred dry ground.
After missing scheduled runs due to rain-affected surfaces, Verdad now looks poised to line up with Flemington currently rated a Good 4. Griffiths had withdrawn the gelding from earlier starts at Flemington and Sandown because of unsuitable soft tracks.
“He was good at Caulfield. He missed the start, I don’t know why, and it changed the game plan for us,” Griffiths said about Verdad’s last outing when third to Jimmy The Bear on May 31.
“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.”
Griffiths noted that the gelding had a jump-out earlier in the week to tune up for his next run.
“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,” he said.
Verdad will likely continue racing into winter provided the weather remains favourable.
“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.”
If the gelding continues to thrive, a start in the VRC-CRV Winter Championship Series Final (1600m) on July 5 is also a possibility, though Griffiths is weighing that against a potential spring campaign.
“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,” he said.
“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.”