A GAMBLE to send his stable star Just Folk north to Sydney for a crack at a lucrative Group 2 race has paid off in spades for Bendigo trainer Josh Julius.
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The five-year-old gelding scored the second Group 2 win of his blossoming career with a convincing triumph in the $200,000 Ajax Stakes (1500m) at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday.
Superbly ridden by Sydney jockey Jason Collett, who was having his first ride on the horse, Just Folk hit the front shortly after the 400m and showed a ton of class, determination and toughness to hold out the short-priced favourite Ellsberg ($1.50) with Kiku close up in third.
The win added to the son of Magnus and Fast Ruby's victory last spring in the $300,000 Group 2 Crystal Mile at Moonee Valley.
His stirring victory has Julius daring to dream of Group 1 riches in The Doncaster Mile (1600m) on April 2.
The winner of the Ajax Stakes is granted a ballot and weight penalty exemption into the Doncaster, where Just Folk will carry the luxury weight of 50kg, a drop of 5.5kg from his Ajax Stakes win.
At his previous start before Saturday in the Group 1 C.F. Orr Stakes at Caulfield he carried 59kg.
Julius said winning his second Group 2 miles away from home was undoubtedly his greatest thrill in racing, doubly so through the family connection, with Just Folk having been bred by his grandparents Leo and Maureen Dwyer.
"Obviously the Crystal Mile on Cox Plate day was a huge thrill, but the process of going to Sydney and getting out of our comfort zone and putting a long-term plan into effect and finding a wet track, that's a pretty rewarding feeling today," he said.
"It was a huge risk.
"We have had him away from home in South Australia before and it paid off, but he's really putting it together now.
"His form speaks for itself. He's brought Victorian weight-for-age form to handicap Sydney and got the job done.
"It's certainly onwards and upwards from here - we're having a ball."
Just Folk was given the perfect run from barrier one by Collett, who elected to stay put near the fence and cut the corner on the home turn, giving the gelding the upper hand over the superbly-credentialed Ellsberg, a dual Group 3 winner.
Julius could not have been more impressed with the strong manner of the win and Collett's cool performance in the saddle.
"Drawing one, people get nervous, same with going in the Sydney direction the first time, but he had something to follow with the rail, so drawing one was perfect," he said.
"The way the races have been panning out, they're all coming off the rail, so we were always going to have plenty of room to manoeuvre ourselves.
"If we were in a position to come out wide, we might have, but Jason summed it up and realised he wasn't going to be able to get out and around Ellsberg, so he cut the corner. It was the winning move.
"It's just terrific when everything goes your way and you are rewarded like that."
The in-form Collett followed up by winning the Group 1 Coolmore Classic (1500m) later in the day aboard the Ciaron Maher and David Eustace-trained Lighthouse.
Just Folk's sixth win from 19 starts boosted his career earnings to $503,288.
He has the potential to significantly add to that tally, lining up in the Doncaster Mile, which carries $3m in prizemoney.
Julius said Just Folk would return to Bendigo early next week and likely head back to Sydney about a week before the Doncaster.
"He's loving having his races spaced, so three weeks into the Doncaster is absolutely ideal for us," he said.
"I'll most likely bring him home for a couple of weeks, get him back into his routine and then we will come up the week before as we did for this race and hopefully mirror our preparation.
"The fact we are in the Doncaster has not really sunk in to be honest, there is a real sense of relief at the moment.
"The risk of travelling away from home and coming to Sydney with a horse who is a little immature in the brain still, we had a lot that had to go our way, but it all panned out.
"I think after a few beers tonight and getting up in the morning and taking (Just Folk) to the beach and giving him a wade there, that's when it will sink in that we are coming back to Sydney and running in the Doncaster."
"It's certainly onwards and upwards from here - we're having a ball."
- Josh Julius
One thing that won't be a worry for Julius is his choice of jockey for the Doncaster, with genuine lightweight Dean Holland to be offered the ride.
The 33-year-old partnered Just Folk in his previous two Group 1 attempts in the Cantala and C.F. Orr Stakes and was unlucky to miss the ride on him in the Crystal Mile last October due to a suspension.
"Dean knows him backwards - he was pretty unlucky he got suspended during the spring and it cost him the ride in the Crystal Mile," he said.
"He had to miss Cox Plate day to ride (Tralee Rose) in the Melbourne Cup, which you couldn't begrudge anyone, but he rode him very well at 52kg in the Cantala (when sixth).
"He'll do 50kg comfortably and he will no doubt be the jockey we will turn to."
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