Mat Ellerton described Melting Pot as a raw talent after his eye-catching first-up win and the co-trainer will be hoping the gelding goes on with the job at Caulfield on Monday.
Three-year-old Melting Pot had his first campaign cut short after his second start in September when he suffered injuries which kept him off the scene for six months.
He returned with an impressive win, coming from near last over 1000m in a race on Bendigo Golden Mile day two weeks ago, and is set to go around in the Sportingbet Handicap (1200m) at Caulfield.
After the Bendigo success, Ellerton revealed the injuries which ended Melting Pot’s first campaign after an unplaced effort in his second start at Ballarat.
“He drew barrier one that day, was half slow away and knuckled and severed about 50 per cent of his tendon,” Ellerton said.
“And he fractured a splint bone in the same incident. It was a hamburger with the lot.”
Ellerton believes Melting Pot is essentially a sprinter and the son of Artie Schiller is $6 favourite in an open market to make it three wins from just four starts on Monday.
“He’s lightly-raced and had a while off the scene. The best is in front of him,” Ellerton said.
“He’s just got good raw talent and just needs racing now.”
Melting Pot has barrier one for Monday’s race with Damian Lane in the saddle.
The gelding’s other co-trainer Simon Zahra said Melting Pot would probably need some luck again from the inside draw.
“He seems to have improved off the run (at Bendigo). He’s going up a notch in grade but he’s a nice horse in the making,” Zahra said.
The stable also has three-year-old filly Titania Star entered as one of the leading chances in the Selangor Turf Club Handicap (1000m) on the back of a confidence-boosting second-up maiden win at Yarra Glen.
