The biggest danger to promising stayer Aethelwulf continuing his rise at Canterbury is how he handles the circuit, trainer Matthew Smith says.

A winner of two from four, the gelding steps beyond a mile and comes to town for the first time in the Asahi Super Dry Handicap (1900m) after a runaway 6-1/2 length Kembla win in mid-July.

Smith said Aethelwulf is a work in progress and could repeat his last start performance, but it’s not as simple as the short priced favourite just turning up.

“He’s a nice horse, still a bit green and learning what’s going on. He’s not bombproof by any means,” Smith said.

“He’s definitely a stayer, will get over ground, he’s progressing nicely but if things go wrong it can be a bit of a disaster there. He needs to get the right run to win.

“Canterbury is going to be a challenge for him so we’ll see how he goes.

“I do think he is going to be a nice horse in the future, but is he a readymade product? Definitely not.”

Aethelwulf didn’t make his debut until before Christmas, with Smith describing him as a little backward which is why he’s been given time and kept out of town to date.

The Warwick Farm trainer has three runners in the 1900m event, with two more last start winners in Scalextrics and Dubai Warrior lining up. He said Aethelwulf needs to sharpen up his racing brain.

“He’s got to harness his energy and for things to go right,” Smith said.

“At Canterbury it all happens very quickly … he had the dream run at Kembla, everything went right, he flowed and didn’t have to stop and start. The run before he looked like an average horse when it went wrong.”

Scalextrics has his first attempt at running out the 1900m in two years after bouncing back to his best with a strong finishing win two weeks ago at Canterbury.

The seven-year-old was tried at the trip in August 2024 and failed.

“We’re not sure about him running the trip but we thought it’d be a good time to try him,” Smith said.

“He was good the other day, if he runs the trip out he’ll run really well.”

Smith warned not to undersell Dubai Warrior. It recorded his fourth career win at Wyong third-up.

“He’s a lot more straightforward, he was good last start when caught wide,” he said.

“He knows what he’s doing a lot more than Aethelwulf knows what he’s doing. He’ll bounce and put himself there and take some running down.

“If Aethelwulf is running all over the place or getting held up he could pinch it.”