FRESH from a stellar Group 2-winning spring campaign with Just Folk, Bendigo trainer Josh Julius is already casting one eye to the autumn.
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The five-year-old gelding is back at Julius' Bendigo stable following a break after his good sixth in the Group 1 Cantala (1600m) last month, with the astute young trainer revealing on Racing.com on Thursday that he was already canvassing his many options during the autumn.
But with a return to race day action months off, he says there is no rush with his stable star.
"The autumn rolls around pretty quick, so that's what we are targeting him for," he said.
"He'll have a short autumn - how many runs, we are not sure. We will just take things as they come.
"The C.F. Orr Stakes (at Caulfield in February) is something that we might target second-up with him, but there's options through to Melbourne, into Adelaide and obviously Sydney as well.
"We don't have to be in a hurry with him, we'll let him tell us.
"It's a good problem to have, looking at the calendar and having to decide where we have to go to. It's not something we are used to."
A prosperous winter and spring campaign for the gelded son of Magnus and Fast Ruby was underpinned by his Group 2 victory in the $300,000 Crystal Mile at Moonee Valley (1600m) on October 23 and a second in the Listed Paris Stakes (1410m) at Flemington earlier that month.
Those performances and his Group 1 sixth in the $2m Cantala capped an impressive rise through the grades for Just Folk, who won a benchmark 64 at Murray Bridge early in his preparation.
Still five-years-old and only lightly raced, Julius is hoping there is better still to come with his chestnut gelding.
'It's been a terrific ride and hopefully it's just begun," he said.
"He's a very sound horse and we can run him in the races that everyone dreams of running in."
Just Folk has won five of his 16 starts and has been placed three tines for earnings of $371,938.
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