ALBURY trainer Brett Cavanough said he was willing to forget Helideck went around after his stable star finished a disappointing second last in the group 2 Gilgai Stakes at Flemington on Saturday.

Jumping from an unfavourable barrier (5), Helideck was never in the race, lacking the blistering pace that saw him claim the Prime Minister’s Cup and group 3 BTC sprint in Queensland during the autumn.

Cavanough conceded the run was disappointing but is willing to give the horse another chance in the city.

“I spoke to Steven King who rode Vormista ($12, finished last) and he said ‘mate, forget they went around’,” Cavanough said.

“We drew the fence and everything went to the outside where the running was. But I still wasn’t at all happy with the run — it was terrible.

“He was off the bit the whole way; it was like he was at top speed all race and he found nothing.

“There were a couple of ordinary runs in the race and he was one of them.

“He just might not be a genuine group 2 horse, he might be just a bush cups or $100,000-type.

“But we’ll go back to the drawing board, put a bit of work into him and tackle a group 3 or something like that.”

Helideck is likely to return to Melbourne in a fortnight to contest a 1400m race at Caulfield on Caulfield Cup day.

However, Helideck will first have to get over a swollen eye he sustained at some stage during the trip.

“He pulled up with a huge bruised eye — he can probably only see out of it the size of two matches,” Cavanough said.

“We didn’t notice it straight after the race so whether he did it in the race or in the box or whenever we’re not sure.

“I don’t know whether it might have affected him in the race.”

The stable will head to Sydney today with Steal The Thunder to contest the $40,000 Spring Country Cup at Warwick Farm.

“We got a hiding at one end of the Hume (Freeway) so we’ll go to the other end and see what happens,” Cavanough said.

“He’s placed and weighted pretty well in a race like that.”

Steal The thunder finished fourth behind the Don Ross-trained Donilly Lad at Albury last Monday.