KEY POINTS:
The trainer of New Zealand Derby winner C'est La Guerre thinks the youngster might be good enough to run in the Melbourne Cup in November.
But Kevin Myers has decided not to take him across the Tasman for the upcoming AJC Derby.
When chatting to reporters at his home track of Wanganui last Thursday, Myers said he had ruled out an attempt on the Randwick classic with C'est La Guerre because "he wouldn't be good enough, I don't think, at this stage".
C'est La Guerre won decisively on a wet Ellerslie on March 1, beating in the process the three New Zealand horses who contested Saturday's Rosehill Guineas in preparation for the AJC Derby: Red Ruler, Nom de Jeu and Mission Critical.
While the other bluebloods have flown to Sydney, C'est La Guerre is pottering around the Myers stable
He said the gelding had picked up since the Derby and had been "fiddling around" without doing too much.
He galloped between races at the local meeting on Thursday and is headed for the Marlborough meeting at Blenheim later this month.
But whether C'est La Guerre races at Blenheim is another question.
"I'll take him for a trip to Blenheim and see what happens, just to give him a trip away for a week," Myers said.
"But I'm not sure if he'll start. It's a possibility."
C'est La Guerre clocked 34 seconds for the last 600m of his gallop which surprised Myers.
"They must have had the wrong clock, I think, because only a jumper went with him," Myers said.
"But he looked all right. I might turn him out, I haven't decided yet."
As for future plans, he was looking at this year's Melbourne Cup as a possibility.
Another Myers' stable star, veteran 8-year-old Balmuse is nearing the end of his career. He ran second in the Hororata Gold Cup at Riccarton on Saturday, his first race since
failing in the Auckland Cup on March 5.
"I'm trying to find the right race for him, but he's past his best. When he goes out [of training] he'll probably retire," said Myers.
- NZPA
