Group One targets on horizon for Spurtonic

Saturday 7 September 2013, 1:50pm

Gai Waterhouse faces a distance dilemma with untapped four-year-old Spurtonic following his facile Randwick victory on Saturday.

The Group One Epsom (1600m) and Metropolitan Handicaps (2400m) both loom as realistic goals for the gelding, who was never seriously challenged to post an impressive all-the-way win in the TAB.com.au Handicap.

Spurtonic clocked 2min01.23secs for the 2000m, smashing the class record by almost five seconds and getting within a second of the course record set by Dignity Dancer in 1998.

Waterhouse was in Melbourne on Saturday but stable representative Mark Newnham confirmed the gelding was being considered for two of Sydney's major spring races.

"He will take a path towards the Metropolitan or the Epsom but I'll let Gai decide that," Newnham said.

"The way he relaxed today I think he would run it (2400m). I don't think Gai would be deterred either way."

Suspensions to Waterhouse's stable riders Nash Rawiller and Tommy Berry gave Blake Shinn an opportunity to partner Spurtonic and he was taken by the performance.

"I was the winner a long way out. He won as he liked," Shinn said.

"On that run you'd have no hesitation stepping him up in distance and you'd say the further he goes the better he will be."

Sent out favourite, Spurtonic ($2.40) maintained his perfect record this campaign to score by 2-1/4 lengths from import Junoob ($21) who was having his first local run with Acapela ($9) third.

– AAP

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