Canberra based trainer Len Hodgson couldn't be happier with his stable star Asclepius as he plans to set him for a second tilt towards next year’s Listed Canberra Cup.

Sent to the paddock following a career peak performance at Flemington, Hodgson remains confident Asclepius is on track for an improved effort in next year's feature race.

“We aimed a little bit high with him this preparation and unfortunately he wasn’t able to get a win but I think he is a more tractable horse now,” Hodgson said.

“We only got him up to 1800m once this preparation and hopefully a year older he will get the 2000m of the Cup a bit better.”

Proven to race at his best when ridden cold, Hodgson said they will look to ride the five-year-old back off the speed this time around after he was ridden upside down in the Cup earlier this year.

“We’ll ride him to suit this time around, we drew a good gate in the Cup this year and elected to go forward with him and it worked out to be a mistake,” Hodgson said.

“He is a horse who definitely likes to get back and get home in his races.”

Boasting some handy formlines behind the likes of Salon Soldier and Mouro, Hodgson felt Asclepius hasn’t had the best of luck which was evident in his latest performance behind Multilateral when forced out early in the straight.

“The first thing Damien [Oliver] said to me after he got off was he had to go too soon, he got flushed out a lot earlier than we expected,” Hodgson said.

“He hasn’t been a very lucky horse, he was a bit stiff on a few occasions this time in but that’s just racing and you’ve just got to move on to the next assignment.

Given a four week break Asclepius will return to Hodgson’s stable in mid-December with plans already in place to have him racing fourth up for his grand final in March.

“He came through his latest run fantastic and we’ve elected to give him four weeks,” Hodgson said.

“So he’s been out from the 13th of November and he’s due back the 15th of next month and then we’ll just start working towards the Cup in March.

“It’s obviously a long way away and he will need his fair share of luck but if he can get in at the bottom of the weights he hopefully can give it a real shake.”

While Asclepius’s owners were over the moon to see him compete during Melbourne’s Spring Carnival, Hodgson admitted it was quite the test behind the scenes.

“It was a big thrill for the owners but it was a bit different for me, it wasn’t so much stressful but I had to make sure I got things right,” Hodgson said.

“It was a great day out we didn’t come out with the win but it’s always good to compete against the best and he acquitted himself well.”