Track conditions will be of little concern for Grahame Begg with his runners in two of the feature races at Sandown.
Begg will saddle Cardinal Gem in the Group 3 Victoria Handicap (1400m) and Lunar Flare in the Group 3 Easter Cup (2100m) with both holding form on good and wet ground.
Rain is predicted at Sandown on Friday and Saturday.
The Bureau of Meteorology is predicting a 75% chance of up to 15mm of rain on Friday and a 75% chance of a further 5mm on Saturday.
Cardinal Gem excels on wet ground, winning at Flemington last September carrying 58kg, after the claim of apprentice Logan McNeil, before winning the Group 3 Weekend Hussler (1400m) at Caulfield on a Soft 6 track.
Begg said Cardinal Gem was at his top for Saturday’s contest after two runs from a spell, adding Cardinal Gem just needed some speed in the contest to bring out his best.
“He needs good speed in his races which he didn’t get last time,” Begg said.
“He probably jumped too well and got caught a little wide, but he gets back on the limit, which is a plus for him as well.”
Longterm Begg would like to head to Brisbane for the Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap (1400m) at Eagle Farm in June.
“He’s probably got to win this and improve his rating a bit as that is a $3 million race and it will be hard to get into,” Begg said.
“He needs to put his hand up to show that he should be going.”
Like Cardinal Gem, Lunar Flare has had two runs back from a spell, both at Flemington, and has been eye-catching each time.
Lunar Flare finished seventh to stablemate Nonconformist in the Group 2 Blamey Stakes (1600m) before running ninth to Cascadian in the Group 1 Australian Cup.
Begg is ruing another poor draw for Lunar Flare who has drawn 12 in the 13-horse field on Saturday.
“It’s very frustrating,” Begg said.
“She doesn’t seem to be able to draw that soft enough gate to get a nice run. Drawing out, you spend the first 300 or 400 metres edging back trying to get cover.
“She’s a horse that you can’t fire out of the gates as she’ll get over-racing.”
