Racing: George Ryder will decide star's future

El Segundo will tackle the George Ryder Stakes. Photo / Getty Images

MELBOURNE - Multiple group one winner El Segundo will target the George Ryder Stakes after a mystifying first-up performance in the Newmarket Handicap at Flemington this month.

Trainer Colin Little said he had watched the Newmarket "100 times" and still could not make sense of the race in his efforts to understand how El Segundo turned in possibly the worst run of his career.

"It was bizarre," Little said.

He said 3-year-old Wanted had everything go against him yet he was still able to win without being challenged in traditional Newmarket style by the backmarkers.

El Segundo was always well back and didn't find the explosive finish which has been the trademark of his stellar career.

He was beaten by eight lengths in the Newmarket, finishing 15th of the 19 runners.

"The winner led into a head wind, ran the last two furlongs in 24 seconds and got the money," the Caulfield horseman said.

He said he had plenty of time for analysis during the post-race hail storm which flooded Flemington but was none the wiser.

"I was trapped in the owners' and trainers' bar, like so many others, during the hail and they kept replaying the Newmarket," Little said.

"I watched it 100 times and I still can't work it out."

Little said El Segundo took no harm from the run which was his first start since finishing fourth to boom 3-year-old So You Think in the Cox Plate last October.

He said the George Ryder (1500m) at Rosehill on April 3 would decide whether El Segundo's autumn campaign would be extended.

"It is hard to know what happened on the day but the horse pulled up well after the Newmarket," Little said.

"There is a lot of time and effort and money if we turn him out and start a spring campaign again so we will take him to the Ryder and see how we go.

"The horse seems quite good but we will take it one step at a time."

El Segundo has not won since he took out the 2007 Cox Plate, after which he suffered an injured tendon and had more than a year off to recuperate.

- AAP