Star Bendigo galloper Just Folk heads north for Group 3 Hawkesbury Cup tilt

The six-year-old has produced some of his best performances up north in New South Wales, none more so than his Group 2 victory in the Ajax Stakes (1500m) at Rosehill in March last year.

He also finished second behind Cascadian towards the end of his last campaign in the Group 3 Craven Plate (1800m) at Randwick in October.

Julius and Just Folk have headed north in search of a wet track.

The gelding has two runs under his belt this preparation, kicking things off with a sound fourth in the Group 3 Shaftesbury Avenue Handicap (1400m) last month.

The dual Group 2-winner followed up with another 'pleasing' fourth on his home track in the Listed Golden Mile (1600m) earlier this month.

Julius is quietly confident of a good performance in what shapes as a very winnable race for his stable star.

"He's come through the trip up here well and looks in good order, so we will give it a crack and see how we go," he said.

"It's a toughish sort of race, given his rating (104) and where he is at with his ability.

"These are the races we like to be in and the market tells us he is half a chance, so hopefully we are somewhere nearabout.

"While Hawkesbury missed most of the rain (on Thursday), I'd expect the track to be about a 5 or 6.

"It's been in the soft range all week and had 4 or 5mm on it the last 24 hours (overnight Wednesday).

"With any luck, they get a few more showers on it, albeit there is no more actual rain forecast."

Beaten by three lengths on a Good 4 in the Golden Mile, after conceding four-and-a-half kilograms to the winner Here To Shock, Julius was by no means disappointed with the performance.

"He was good. There was obviously a bit of a rails pattern and we were never drawn to be anywhere near the rails," he said.

"But he made up good ground and put himself in the race.

"He just needs to get his toe in the ground again to find those extra couple of lengths in this company.

"He drops another kilo in the weights from that run ... there's only four kilos between top and bottom.

"I'm looking forward to seeing him go clockwise again. He seems to appreciate going that way.

"When we brought him back in this prep, this was about the only race we thought we were going to get to if we did get to Sydney for any part of the autumn.

"So here we are over the mile and hoping he can get his toe in the ground a little bit.

"I'm sure he'll give a good account of himself from a good barrier (8)."

Much like the Golden Mile at Bendigo, the Hawkebury Cup is a standalone Saturday meeting.

Nine-time Group 1 winner Josh Parr will become the 10th jockey to ride Just Folk in his career.

The 36-year-old is still on a high after claiming one of the most lucrative wins of his career last Saturday, guiding Overpass to victory in the $4 million The Quokka (1200m) at Ascot.

Just Folk, by Magnus out of Fast Ruby, has won six of 29 career starts and been placed seven times.

He has won $754,913 in prize money.

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