Anakie trainer Jeff Britton goes into Saturday night at The Meadows with four runners, led by True Detective in Race 6 ($2.30), where he comes up with his favoured red rug.
“He’s my best of the night. As long as he uses Box 1, hopefully there will be no trouble there. I’d be so much more confident in a 700m race as it can be a bit of a lottery in the 600m start – but hopefully he does everything right,” says Jeff.
Twin Pick ($5) lines up in Race 1, and he was impressive in breaking maidens at Sandown last month in 29.69, but Jeff has some concerns about his Box 6 draw.
“He’s got into a bad habit of not coming out, and I’d been hoping he would draw closer in. But he’s racing really well, and if everything goes his way, hopefully he’ll be in it.”
In Race 4, Jeff has Weblec Haze ($5.50), who steps up to the 725m trip for the first time, after attacking the line well for second over 650m at Warrnambool last start.
“He’s a bit like his brother Weblec Eagle (Sale Cup winner) – I think he might be more of a 650m – 680m dog, but I’m hoping that he proves me wrong. He’s not a great beginner, and I’ll be worried if he finds the front early that he might tire,” says Jeff.
Barcia Prince ($8.50) steps up to 600m in Race 7, but Jeff is unhappy with the wide draw of 7, and also states that he’s coming up against strong opposition.
Meanwhile, Jamie Ennis has two key runners in the opening event on the program, with Lord Disick ($1.95) jumping from Box 1 and Palace Lady ($4.40) jumping from Box 2.
“I would say if Lord Disick comes out evenly and holds out Palace Lady, he’ll be the one to beat. But if Palace Lady crosses Lord Disick at the start, she’s the one to beat. It will all come down to the first few strides,” says Jamie.
Mullion Mayor ($9.50) is relying on a scratching to make the field in Race 3, and Jamie acknowledges that this is a tough race: “Catch A Thief ($2.20) in Box 2 should be tough to beat.”
In Race 6, Ella Enchanted ($4.60) comes up with Box 7, and she finished second behind True Detective here a week ago.
“It’s a terrific race,” says Jamie.
“I think Rajasthan ($2.20) might knock her at the start. She’s four years old now, and has lost a bit of the turn of foot that she had a year ago. I’m not confident of her being able to beat Rajasthan and True Detective.”
First race takes off at 6.32pm Saturday night. Tune into Sky Racing or Download the Watchdog app to watch live.
