Gosford-based trainer Adam Duggan is set to saddle-up his first runner in the Midway, with Miss Fox nominated for the Benchmark 72 (1200m) at Randwick on Saturday.
The Midway was introduced in early July for small to medium-sized provincial and metropolitan stables and boasts $100,000 in prizemoney.
Miss Fox has built a great record, scoring four times from 11 starts, with two of those coming on a Heavy rated track.
Duggan said he’s expecting a better run from the four-year-old after a break between runs.
“I’m much happier with her leading into this run,” he said.
“She was disappointing last start, I felt we were right on track for a really good preparation after she ran second at Canterbury.
“She was disappointing, and we really couldn’t put our finger on it.
“We’ve just given her a few weeks leading into this next run and hopefully that bit more time in between runs has helped her.
“All the signs are really good for running a much-improved race this week.”
Many provincial and metropolitan trainers have taken advantage of the new Midway feature, with the first two editions seeing full fields accepting.
This week is no different, with 22 horses nominated for the $100,000 event, with Miss Fox likely to get a run in the field of 13.
The daughter of Mossman will be Duggan’s first runner in the Midway, with the Gosford-based trainer mirroring the thoughts of his training counterparts about the new race.
“This is my first runner, I think they’re (Midway races) a great innovation,” he said.
“I think that they’ve been strong enough, these first few.
“I think everyone’s trying to have a go at them and we’ve known about them for a little while now, so they’ve definitely been quite strong.
“At the same time, we are racing for $100,000 at benchmark 72 level, so you’d expect them to be at a higher level for sure.”
Duggan will also have a runner at Canterbury on Wednesday as he sends five-year-old New Tycoon to the midweek card fresh from a break.
The son of Foxwedge trialled well last week at Gosford, but Duggan says he’ll be better over further.
“He’s a horse that’s shot up through the grades fairly quickly last preparation and will be better suited when he gets to a mile,” he said.
“I think he’s up to this sort of class, but at this distance I think they’ll be too sharp for him.”
