Chris Waller will decide on Wednesday evening whether promising colt Imperial Force heads to the Sunshine Coast for a key lead-up run towards next month’s Group One JJ Atkins in Brisbane.
The last-start Canterbury winner is a $5 equal favourite for the Ken Russell Memorial Classic (1200m) at Caloundra and a $3 outright favourite for the Gosford IT 2YO Handicap (1200m), both on Saturday.
With Gosford and Caloundra rated in the heavy 10 category and Imperial Force drawing wide at both venues, Waller’s racing manager Charlie Duckworth conceded it wasn’t an easy call.
“Both are heavy tens and he has drawn eleven (at Gosford) and nineteen (at Caloundra). We really haven’t done very well,” Duckworth said.
“The trouble is, if you’re trying to get to a J J Atkins, every run from now is important.
“Sometimes you end up having to have your hand forced and you have to roll the dice and run from a wide draw, or on a track you didn’t want to necessarily run on.
“But I don’t think there are many get out of jail tickets.”
Waller’s weekend team for Queensland is due to leave Sydney at 8pm (AEST) on Wednesday night and connections will need to decide by then whether Imperial Force gets onto the float.
Regardless of whether he heads to Gosford or the Sunshine Coast, Duckworth says the colt is in great order and on target for his primary goal of next month’s Group One J J Atkins (1600m) at Eagle Farm.
“We’re really happy with him. He galloped (on Wednesday) morning at Rosehill and he is just an absolute pro,” Duckworth said.
“He will be better once he gets to 1400(metres), but he’s ready to go on with it.
“We think he’s a topliner but it’s just about plotting the right path.”
The stable is in a similar quandary with stablemate President, who is first emergency for the Ken Russell Memorial Classic in which he has drawn gate 16, while he is in the field at Gosford but has another awkward draw in barrier 10.
President will be first-up but showed encouraging signs at his initial preparation when he placed at the Kensington track on debut and finished fifth to Storm Boy in the Skyline Stakes (1200m) in March.