A big decision now lies with the connections of Fastfoot after the Iffraaj gelding's impressive win in the $25,000 Coupland's Mile Prelude at Riccarton on Saturday.
The 5yr-old arrived in the South Island during the winter and, barring one failure on a wet track, has acclimatised well to the South, winning twice in a row on good tracks at Riccarton.
Saturday's opposition boasted stylish gallopers such as Emerald Queen, Coup Ay Tee and Go Go Dingo but after Fastfoot's jockey, Shankar Muniandy, settled his mount near the pace, he wore down his opposition in the straight to beat Meursault by half a length.
Fastfoot is raced by the Trodmore Partnership, which is managed by Otago Racing Club chief executive Andre Klein.
He pulled in eight other owners - Bruce Carvell, Bob Perriam, Shokit Ali, John Cutler, Vince McLachlan, Lee Macaskill, Murray Acklin and Jason Bucklar - to race Fastfoot and three other gallopers, along with Omakau trainer Murray Hamilton.
Perriam was on hand at Riccarton yesterday to lead Fastfoot back to the winning enclosure in what is his first venture into horse ownership, Klein said.
But today will decide which way the syndicate will go with Fastfoot - back to Riccarton or targeting races in the lower South Island.
''The question is where now - it'll probably go to a vote tomorrow,'' Klein said.
''Whether we pay the $7000 [late fee] and go to the Coupland's Mile or we chase things closer to home - there's a lot of opportunities.''
Those options include a 1400m open handicap on Melbourne Cup day at Wingatui and the Queenstown Cup.
Alternatively, a $40,000 1400m open handicap on the last day of the New Zealand Cup carnival at Riccarton could also be an option.
Fastfoot had 27 starts in the North Island for four wins, and originally came south on the premise that he preferred the sting out of the ground.
''He had been competing in the open grade over various distances, but he was thought of - no question - as a wet tracker,'' he said.
''Everyone thought he had a love for heavy tracks, but when he started first up at Wingatui [on July 28], he didn't cope with the going.
''We watched some of his old races and it was apparent he preferred it good.''
The other three gallopers in the Trodmore Partnership ranks are The Energizer (one North Island win), last-start Wingatui runner-up Revenge and Movida, who is set to debut this month.
Klein was quite pleased with Fastfoot's winning price of $36.60 on the tote, and expected to chew through some bandwidth watching the replay of the race.
''I'm looking forward to watching it again - I might do that now, that's a good idea.''
