Pre-post favourite Elouyou likely to be scratched from Caulfield race because of firm ground

Melbourne’s unusually dry autumn is giving trainer Scott Cameron a few headaches with talented wet-tracker Elouyou, who is a short-priced favourite at Caulfield.

Many are relishing Melbourne’s unseasonal warm weather, but the dry spell is providing Flemington trainer Scott Cameron with a problem.

May is usually the start of consistent soft tracks in Victoria, but Melbourne is still having temperatures in the low 20s despite the start of winter being less than a month away.

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The daily sunshine is no help to Cameron, who has talented wet tracker Elouyou racing in great form with wins in soft ground at The Valley at his last two runs.

Cameron accepted to run Elouyou in Saturday’s Thoroughbred Club of Australia Handicap (1400m) at Caulfield in which the gelding drew barrier one.

However, Cameron said he was almost certain to scratch the son of So You Think, who is a $2.80 chance in early betting on the $150,000 race.

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“I doubt I’ll run Saturday,” Cameron said.

“I’m pretty sure I won’t run but I just chucked him in the race in case something stupid happened with the weather.

“At this stage, he’s definitely not running.

“I wouldn’t be too worried if it was Flemington or something, but Caulfield just gets firmer than other tracks, which is why I’m hesitant to go there.”

Cameron has repeatedly said in post-race interviews that Elouyou takes longer to recover from races on firm ground, which is one reason the rising six-year-old has only had 12 starts.

In-form galloper Elouyou is almost certain be scratched from his assignment at Saturday’s Caulfield meeting. Picture: Racing Photos via Getty Images

“It is a bit frustrating, because the horse is absolutely flying,” Cameron said.

“But we’ve just got to put the horse first but he’s an easy horse to do anything with and he loves being in work, so he just ticks over between runs.”

Cameron said he considered interstate options for Elouyou, who was an easy winner at Rosehill at his only run outside Victoria last June.

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However, he decided to keep Elouyou in Melbourne to boost his rating, which would enable to five-year-old to tackle harder races if wet tracks appeared early in the spring.

“I just wanted to stay around here and build his rating up even more,” Cameron said.

“He’s still got a couple of grades to go through, then we can look at something better.

“It might work in our favour that the early spring might be wet.

“If he doesn’t run Saturday, there’s nothing really for him next week, but there’s a couple of options the week after Sandown.”

While Elouyou is likely to stay in his stall on Saturday, Cameron will unveil a promising two-year-old at Ballarat on Sunday.

Cameron will run Discreet Point in a 1000m maiden on the back of three jumpout wins at Flemington.

Discreet Point would give Cameron his sixth win in his last 12 runners if he can score on debut.

Originally published as Pre-post favourite Elouyou likely to be scratched from Caulfield race because of firm ground