The latter part of the Sandown Hillside straight will provide an anxious wait for the Peter Gelagotis stable during Wednesday’s Le Pine Funerals Handicap.
Wet-tracker Mossale will have his first run in the 1500-metre race since scoring a determined win over 1700m at Warrnambool in late April.
The form out of the Warrnambool race has been strong with the third placegetter Most Husbands scoring a strong victory over the subsequent city winner Wrotham Heath at Sandown on June 4.
Stable manager Manny Gelagotis said a 1400-metre race at Ballarat was the original plan for Mossale but the meeting was transferred to Donald, forcing the team to search for an alternative closer to their Moe base.
He said the extra 100m of the Sandown event would make or break Mossale’s hopes of winning on his return.
“Hopefully he’ll get a nice cosy run and I’m sure he’ll be competitive but that last 100 (metres) is going to be the key,” Gelagotis said.
“It will just be a matter of whether he can have the right run in the race and reserve a bit of energy for the last little bit.”
Mossale has won four of his 27 starts but the Mossman gelding has gone winless in 15 runs on good or dead tracks with all of his victories coming from 12 starts on slow or heavy ground.
The Sandown track was rated in the heavy range on Tuesday and is unlikely to improve.
But Gelagotis said Mossale was set to improve his record in the coming weeks as the rising six-year-old lives up to the potential he displayed as a younger horse.
“He just been really immature and should have been a horse that should be winning city races by now and he’s slowly getting it,” Gelagotis said.
“We’ve finally got to the bottom of him and he’s starting to marry up his frame and his ability.”
Jockey Glen Boss will have the task of getting Mossale over the line from barrier five.
