Alexiou happy to keep a few spots open on Grebeni’s Dance card

Every bit of planning Gerald Ryan and Sterling Alexiou do with Grebeni has the Big Dance in mind, but they are not ruling out a big win on the way to the $3million spring feature.

The Ocean Park four-year-old was the first horse to qualify for the Big Dance when he won the Goulburn Cup in November and returns for a winter campaign at Rosehill on Saturday.

The lure of the Big Dance burns bright but Alexiou sees more than one opportunity in the future for Grebeni.

“You can’t just think of the Big Dance with him because if you do that he could get [an injury] a couple of days out and you have wasted a year,” Alexiou said. “He is back now with the spring in mind.

“We know he is still developing as a horse and the spring is probably going to be when he is at his best, but we need to have a prep to get him there, and he’s capable of winning good races in it.

“The Big Dance has to be part of the thinking, but who’s to say he couldn’t win an Epsom or a Five Diamonds in the spring.”

Grebeni could target The Coast at Gosford in a fortnight or the Scone Cup before heading to Brisbane.

His preparation suffered a false start when his race was called off at Randwick last week. Instead, he will kick off the campaign from an outside gate in the Vale Lonhro Handicap over 1500m at Rosehill on Saturday.

“That’s what can happen and is why we are keeping an open mind with him. We were looking at a program that would have taken in the Hawkesbury Cup next week and then the Scone Cup with him,” Alexiou said.