Leading Melbourne trainer Greg Eurell has elected to sidestep the feature races down south in favour of easier pickings in Sydney this afternoon.
The strategy paid off a fortnight back when Hosting scored at Rosehill in benchmark class while Your Honour was an eye-catching third in the much harder Theo Marks Quality on the same day.
This afternoon the pair clash in the G2 Shannon Stakes over 1500m and although both were impressive in their Sydney debuts, it is hard to go past Your Honour on weight adjusted Timeform ratings.
The lightly raced gelding resumed after almost twelve months in the paddock with a fast finishing fourth beaten two lengths behind stable mate Hosting over 1200m at Sandown when conceding that galloper two-and-a-half kilos.
Then time out facing a much harder line up in the G2 Theo Marks Quality Your Honour caught the eye with a late finish to take third place behind Epsom bound Riva De Lago and G1 winner Solzhenitsyn running to a new Timeform master rating of 106, just a few pounds shy of his predicted rating form his last campaign.
That was only his sixth race start and there was plenty of merit in the performance as he was forced wide for most of the race.
Brenton Avdulla will be the new rider for him this afternoon and I can see him being more positively ridden to take up a handier position in the race.
Already a winner over 1600m, the step up in distance should prove ideal and he looks nicely placed on the limit weight. The gelding holds an entry for the Epsom Handicap next week so it is crucial for him to perform well this afternoon if he is to make the field.
The clear danger is his stable mate Hosting. Another lightly raced type, Eurell has been very patient with the son of Host, he too having raced just six times for three wins.
Hosting could not have done any more in his two runs back as a four-year-old winning both in stylish fashion in easier grades after showing promise in a limited career at three.
Last start Hosting defeated a benchmark 80 field over 1400m at Rosehill showing an excellent turn of foot once into clear running in the closing stages running to a Timeform rating of 98.
Hosting should also improve off that effort and with winning rider Glynn Schofield staying on board he should be hard to hold out.
Another southern raider is the Peter Moody-trained High Esteem who has been a model of consistency in recent starts.
Timeform rated 106, two starts back he was just caught over 1400m at Caulfield by stable mate Lidari, many believing he was slightly unlucky to lose.
Then last time out High Esteem tackled the G3 Cameron Handicap over 1500m during the Newcastle Spring carnival only to find a rapidly improving Toydini superior in the closing stages.
Today’s race is no harder and despite a rise in the weights should be competitive.
Two horses with old form but average recent efforts include Centennial Park and Monton.
Both have past Timeform ratings good enough to win and have to be taken on trust, especially [nMonton[/n] who has gone 651 days without winning.
However both like the Rosehill course, Centennial Park winning six races and Monton five races on the track, both worthy of inclusion in the multiples.
It is interesting that trainer Ron Quinton has elected to re-fit Monton with blinkers and that might be enough to entice the best form from him.
However the lightly raced Eurell pair rate as the best winning hopes.
