Bookmakers aren’t taking any chances with sprinter Our Boy Malachi who remains a solid favourite for the Group Two Expressway Stakes at Rosehill.
The seven-year-old has a winning strike rate rarely rivalled with 17 victories from 21 starts.
He returns to racing on Saturday after a difficult year in which he suffered a bleeding attack during the Doomben 10,000 and was later struck down by a bout of colic.
Hawkes Racing has given the Group One placegetter two barrier trials in preparation for his return including a quiet hit-out at Warwick Farm on Monday.
Race jockey Tommy Berry said he didn’t ask Our Boy Malachi to extend in the trial after he missed the start but insisted the horse was ripe for an Expressway return.
“He’s back as good as he could be,” Berry said.
Our Boy Malachi holds sway as a $2.50 favourite, ahead of Godolphin’s lone runner Generalife.
Solicit, a narrow second at Group Two level when she resumed last preparation, is also high in the market to make a competitive return.
The Expressway Stakes is one of three black-type races at Rosehill along with the Canonbury and Widden Stakes for the two-year-olds.
Defcon from the Peter and Paul Snowden stable tops Canonbury Stakes markets while the Gai Waterhouse-trained So Serene is favourite for the Widden Stakes for the fillies.
