Brilliant speedster I Get Around is set to lead a return to the Melbourne spring carnival by top Newcastle trainer Paul Perry.
Perry, who boasts an exceptional strike rate at Melbourne carnivals since the late 1990s, has not had a starter in Melbourne since 2010.
However he has a select team slated to head south in a bid to add to the incredible record his horses have compiled in Melbourne feature races.
Any trainer in Australia would be proud to boast a Melbourne record comparable to Perry's impressive list.
His has won six G1 races in Melbourne since the late 1990s with Bezeal Bay (Emirates Stakes), Dantelah (Oakleigh Plate), Notoire (Gadsden Stakes); Fastnet Rock (Lightning Stakes, Oakleigh Plate) and Choisir (Lightning Stakes).Over the last 10 years he has compiled three wins and five placings in G1 races at VIctorian carnivals as well as three wins and five placings in G2 events, four and three in G3 races and three and six in Listed races.
His Victorian winners in races below G1 level since 2002 have included Proprietor, Biscayne Bay, Newport, Arrabeea, Coronga, Southern Skye, Matter Of Honour and Chester County.
In many cases his horses have landed some massive carnival betting plunges which makes his return to Melbourne this spring more interesting as his team will be targeting races below the top grade.
Perry has mapped out Melbourne programs for the brilliant speedster I Get Around and stablemates Stratana, Hidden Warrior and Wouldn't It Be Nice.
"They won't be going for the big feature races, but there are some nice races down south for these horses," Perry said.
Snitzel four-year-old I Get Around and Stratana, a five-year-old by Perry's Golden Slipper winner Stratum, barrier trialled at Newcastle on Monday and are likely to appear in races at Moonee Valley and Flemington in the next three weeks.
I Get Around, the winner of four of his first six starts and regarded as one of the fastest short course speedsters to race in NSW in the last 12 months, has not been seen since he won over 1000m at Warwick Farm in 57.51 seconds in July.
He won a Wyong trial on September 21 and looks well prepared for his Melbourne campaign after winning his 900m heat at Broadmeadow on Monday.
Stratana has been off the scene since finishing second in the Listed June Stakes at Rosehill on June 9. The winner of five of his 13 starts was second at the Wyong trials on September 21 and followed up with
an untested sixth on Monday.The Chosir two-year-old Wouldn't It Be Nice, who made his debut with a fourth in the Breeders Plate at Randwick on October 6, may get his chance in Melbourne in the G3 Maribyrnong Plate at Flemington on November 3.
Hidden Warrior made his debut in the 2011 Breeders Plate when narrowly beaten by star colt Pierro and had only two more starts as a two-year-old.
He was off the scene for nine months before resuming with a win at the Newcastle Cup last month followed by a second to the promising Heart Testa at Canterbury on October 3.