![General Salute wins the Bill Ritchie Handicap at Randwick but will bypass his ballot-free opportunity in the Epsom Handicap. [Bradley Photos]](https://betsy.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/2362511.jpg)
Gerald Ryan and Sterling Alexiou have chosen their targets carefully with General Salute, and even with topweight in The Hunter, they believe he can get his biggest payday on Saturday.
The 1300m around Newcastle will suit him perfectly, and any rain would only add to Alexiou’s confidence heading up the highway with a horse that has defied foot problems for most of his career.
“He is pretty tough and when he gets to the races he has never let us down,” Alexiou said. “He has got up in the ratings, so we have to be smart in what races we run him in, and this race stood out.”
General Salute has wins in the Winter Stakes and Bill Ritchie Handicap, which made him a millionaire at the beginning of this preparation, and is at his best when fresh, so will go into the Hunter off a month’s break.
“We gave a week or so off at waterwalker after the Alan Brown [where he was a game fifth 1-1/2 length from Formal Display] and he has come back in and been good in a couple of gallops,” Alexiou said.
“It was the program we planned for him because we wanted to have him fresh for the 1300m.
“It is the right level for him, and he likes big tracks.
“The forecast could do us a favour towards the end of the week because with any moisture in the ground he gets better.
“He gets his share of weight, but he is used to that and will run well on the weekend.”
General Salute is a $6 equal favourite with King Of Roseau for The Hunter with Sun God returning from Melbourne at $8.
Two-time winner Coal Crusher will return to The Hunter and is likely to get his superhero mask in the blinkers, and is an $11 chance at TAB following a couple of failures this time in.
