The combination of an inside barrier and wet track has Gary Portelli hedging his bets on how Sebring Sun will perform in his first test against older horses.
The three-year-old will step out of his own age bracket against a field of seasoned horses in the Listed Canterbury Classic at Randwick.
The race is a launch pad to next month’s $2 million Magic Millions Guineas at the Gold Coast.
“We were hoping to draw out a bit to tell the truth so barrier one is definitely not where we were hoping to be,” Portelli said.
“He’s probably got to go back a long way to get to the outside. We’ll have to monitor the track and see how it’s playing up to his race but it’s looking like we’ll have to let the speed go and work our way into better going and give him his chance to get home.”
The Golden Rose placegetter spent two weeks in the paddock after he finished down the track in the Group One Coolmore Stud Stakes at Flemington during the Melbourne Cup carnival.
Portelli said the colt had lost nothing on the score of fitness but had returned to work mentally fresh.
Sebring Sun will also have an important gear change on Saturday when he sports blinkers for the first time.
“He seems to be concentrating more with them on because he can be a bit bully,” Portelli said.
“I think it will be a keystroke for him.
“If it doesn’t work we can take them off. But you don’t want to go into a grand final with a gear change so we’ll see how we go.”
A field of 14 has accepted for the Canterbury Classic including smart mare I’ve Got The Looks who is scheduled to resume in the sprint.
The Group Three Summer Cup has attracted just seven runners headed by the Chris Waller-trained duo of Junoob and I’m Imposing.
The race will be a swan song for I’m Imposing who has won the Boxing Day feature for the past two years.
John Sargent paid up for Banksters Bonus to contest the Summer Cup after scratching the horse from a midweek race at Warwick Farm on Wednesday.
