Fitter Chief Altony steps out at Sandown

Match fitness counts for a lot in all types of sport and trainer Alex Rae considers it vital for Chief Altony who heads to Sandown second-up on Saturday.

The ive > Handicap (1400m) is seen as an ideal steppingstone towards Chief Altony's preferred distance of 1600m in coming weeks.

Rae and connections of the gelding had a plan of trying to win the Listed Wangoom Handicap (1200m) first-up during the May Carnival but were thwarted by a bottomless heavy track.

While those conditions are favourable for Chief Altony, the gelding was lacking 'match fitness' to take advantage of them and after looking a winning chance he petered out to finish seventh.

While some were disappointed, Rae was not and is banking on that run having the gelding near his top on Saturday.

"He was going really well, going as well as ever, but I just think we were a bit excited to have him return to the races," Rae said.

"In the end, he was beaten two lengths, over an unsuitable distance on a bottomless track, so it was a really good run.

"That 1200 metres at Warrnambool turned into a 1400-metre race with how heavy the track was, and it doesn't matter how much work you put into him on the training track, you can't substitute match fitness.

"He was probably going to run second until he got tired in the last 100 to 150 metres, so the run has brought him on big time."

Chief Altony jumps from 54kg he carried in the Wangoom to 59.5kg after the claim for Tom Stockdale on Saturday in Saturday's benchmark 84 grade race.

The race is a heat of the Winter Championship and Rae said the final in July is a goal, but the trainer said Chief Altony's program would be determined by the weather.

"If there's suitable options in Sydney, even South Australia, where the tracks are soft for him, we wouldn't be afraid of travelling to those places," Rae said.

"He'll run in races that suit him, rather than potential targets.

"We need to get him to mile to see him at his best, but when the horse gets beaten two lengths and runs seventh in the Wangoom, everyone is disappointed because they're so used to seeing him run in the money, but he never runs a bad race whatever you put him in."