Randwick hosts the first Group 1 of the season on Saturday, with the Winx Stakes taking centre stage as we begin the trek into spring.
Outside of the feature event, the Group 2 Silver Shadow Stakes for the three-year-old fillies acts as the perfect support race.
We are lucky enough to have two Group 3's on the card, with the Copper Show Country splitting the two big ones and the Toy Show Quality rounding things out the for the day.
The track is currently rated a Good 4 and with nothing but sunshine in the lead-up, expect a good surface for race day.
Based on past track bias, results have varied and the track has played fair for all participants.
The Map
Glistening (1) will stride forward from the ideal gate, whilst Tilianam (9) will attempt to carve across from an average barrier.
Four Moves Ahead (8) will be looking to begin her preparation with a bang and will likely move into a prominent position from barrier 8, with Lovemetender (12) also looking for a forward position from out wide.
Swift Witness (6) will be keen to slot in somewhere better than midfield and Xtremetime also holding a decent position.
Many of the others will settle midfield or worse with the question mark around what they do with She's All Class (6), as she has drawn nicely and may elect to sit more forward than her previous runs.
The Favourite
Four Moves Ahead ($2.80) is the early favourite and she will be looking for more solid preparation than the interrupted one she had earlier in the year.
She began last preparation well winning the Group 2 Sweet Embrace against her rival She's All Class, before running admirably in the Golden Slipper. She bowed out in the Sires Produce with a solid fourth.
She has since trialled twice and should be ready to go first-up.
Despite being drawn a touch awkwardly, expect her to be in a solid position throughout before showing what she is made of late in the piece.
Analysis and Tips
Before the scratching of She's All Class on Thursday afternoon, I was of the belief that Four Moves Ahead would come up short.
But now that the John Sargent trained filly won't be squaring off against her rival, I can't see any other horse in the field getting the better of her.
The Map
Dreamforce (11) will get a simple lead with Think It Over (2) kicking up from a nice draw, as will Mount Popa (1).
Kolding (10) is drawn just to the inside of Dreamforce, so expect him to follow him across into a forward position. Mo'unga (12) could go forward or back depending on what they decide to do. Brandenburg (13) will likely settle forward or better than midfield.
Most of the others will sort themselves out around midfield or worse, with stablemates Verry Elleegant (5) and Hungry Heart (3) likely to travel back and save their runs until late. The jockeys will need to pull the trigger at the right time, otherwise they may miss out.
The Favourite
Verry Elleegant ($2.90) returns as favourite in what will no doubt be a fruitful preparation.
She has had just the one trial in the lead-up which is a mirror to what she did in her last spring campaign enroute to her Caulfield Cup win and Melbourne Cup attempt.
The daughter of Zed did salute first-up in that instance, though I think it was unexpected with bigger fish to fry later in the preparation.
I expect her to be hitting the line hard and should run top 3 in what looks to be a race with little depth.
Analysis and Tips
I'm willing to put a line through the last run of Kolding ($5.00) and consider him a big chance to bounce back here.
He has never been a horse that had performed overly well first-up, with only a win and a placing to his name in seven attempts.
He has improved second-up in the past, finishing in the quinella spot 4 out of 6 times, with a sole win to his name.
I think he gets into a superb position from the draw, he has a run under his belt unlike his rivals and he gets back to 1400m where he has performed well.
At Randwick, he has saluted 6 times in 15 attempts and finished second on two occasions, meaning he has a 50% strike rate to finishing in the front two across the line.
I expect him to hit the lead at some point in the straight, with the mare the only danger late.