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By Ray Hickson

Trainer Danny Williams is a little nervous about the next step for his new cult hero Shelby Sixtysix and will make a race morning decision about whether he backs up for a fourth week in a row at Rosehill on Saturday.

Trainer Danny Williams

The unassuming gelding’s amazing effort to split Eduardo and Nature Strip at weight-for-age in last weekend’s Group 2 Challenge Stakes provided a huge boost for the Goulburn trainer and he spent a good part of last Sunday joyfully reading social media posts about the performance.

Williams said there are three immediate options – run in Saturday’s Group 3 $160,000 City Tattersalls Maurice McCarten Stakes (1100m) or wait a week and see if he makes the field for the Group 1 Galaxy (1100m) or head to the Newhaven Park Country Championships Wild Card (1400m) at Scone.

“I feel we’ve been put into a position where we’ve got to take an opportunity,’’ Williams said.

“That’s right now whilst we’re in the Sydney autumn carnival and we’re running on heavy tracks.

“On one hand this is an opportunity that may not repeat itself and things have fallen into place.

"On the other hand my logic is telling me he’s an 82 rater running in a Group 3 worth $160,000 and what damage he may do (to his rating) coming out of that when he can run in a benchmark race for $130,000.”

Shelby Sixtysix, $8.50 with TAB on Wednesday, jumped 20 points in the ratings for his weight-for-age second and Williams is well aware just how nicely weighted he is with 53kg in a Group 3 on another heavy track that doesn’t contain the nation’s best sprinters.

It’s just the great unknown of how much last week took out of the five-year-old.

On the surface Williams said he pulled up immediately after the race the best he’s ever come through a run but he won’t know until his next run the actual effect – and that makes picking that next step tricky.

He doesn’t want the horse to embarrass himself after such a high and wants to give him the best chance to at least perform close to the same level.

“When you have circumstances to suit and the horse has come through his run well and backing up you’re more capable of having a similar performance even if it’s two or three lengths below,’’ he said.

“Something keeps telling me it was such a tough effort that under pressure it may tell this Saturday.

“If he was to run back to his Highway form and get beaten six lengths you’d be reassessing things. I’m not suggesting we’re going to go out and repeat any performances, I’m going to sit back and assess this like anyone.”

Williams said what excited him about Shelby Sixtysix’s Challenge performance was the fact he was able to keep in touch with Eduardo and Nature Strip in the run and still finish off.

For the second successive week he clocked the meeting’s fastest last 600m as he ran home in 34.35 (Punter's Intelligence).

“The extraordinary thing for mine was the week before when he won the Highway he couldn’t keep up so William Pike said he opted to take a sit and he had a good turn of foot,’’ he said.

Shelby Sixtysix runs second in the Challenge Stakes

“But it was how he trucked into the race from the start. Coming to the turn I knew he was going to be in it because he’s not the type of horse normally off a hot speed that will jump and travel.

“We’re talking about very fast horses and here he is sitting two lengths behind Nature Strip and travelling. It’s incredible, I just couldn’t believe what I was seeing.”

What Williams will have if Shelby Sixtysix can put himself in the finish of Saturday’s Group 3, or next weekend’s Group 1 should he head that way, is a horse that’s a likely walk up start for a slot in the $1.3 million The Kosciuszko later in the year.

All the fields, form and replays for Saturday's Rosehill meeting