Decision pending on Northern Journey start

Northern Journey is racing for a possible trip to a warmer climate at his next outing.

The David Brideoake-trained gelding has his next start on Saturday, but just where that will be is yet to be decided.

A last-start long shot winner at Flemington, Northern Journey has been nominated for a 2040m handicap at Moonee Valley along with the Eremein Handicap (1800m) at Rosehill.

Brideoake said weights and the strength of the respective fields would determine where the seven-year-olds runs.

“We haven’t made a decision yet on where we will go,” Brideoake said.

“We’ll have a look at the weights, the fields and work it out.

“We’re going to give him an opportunity on Saturday and potentially in the back of our minds if he went well enough we could continue his trip further north.

“We’ll see where he stands after Saturday.”

Northern Journey’s success at $101 over 1800m at Flemington on May 20 was one of a number of big-priced winners on the day.

While the victory may have been a shock to many punters, Brideoake wasn’t at all surprised.

“He had been going along beautifully at home and had been showing improvement all the time,” he said.

“I was very satisfied with the result and getting a Saturday win at Flemington is a nice bonus.”

The victory by Northern Journey came at his third run back from a spell after unplaced runs at Bendigo and Flemington in the lead-up.

And Brideoake says Northern Journey has improved further since his win.

“He’s trained on well since and I’m really happy with his condition,” he said.

Should Northern Journey head to Moonee Valley on Saturday it will be his first start at the inner city course.

He has however been to Rosehill previously.

At his only Sydney start last August Northern Journey finished fourth in a benchmark 72-race over 2000m on a heavy track.