Trainer Nigel Blackiston hopes the trade-off for Tiny’s Legacy’s bad barrier in the fourth heat of the Winter Championship is a better draw for the final.
The son of Lonhro is Blackiston’s only runner at Flemington on Saturday and will jump from the second widest barrier in the 16-horse field.
The race is a 1400 metre heat of the VRC-CRV Winter Championship Series, on eof several run on provincial tracks and Flemington where the $150,000 final over 1600m will be held on July 11.
“We’ve drawn a bit awkward but I would rather sacrifice a bad barrier on Saturday and have a good barrier in the final,” Blackiston said.
“The way he raced the other day he hit the line strongly in quite a nice race.
“It’s a similar field tomorrow and if he can repeat that dose and get home strongly we can then look forward.”
Blackiston takes heart from Tiny’s Legacy 1400m Sale open handicap victory on May 28 when he defeated Ventic, runner-up in a heat of the series at Bendigo on Thursday.
Victory in the Winter Championship would encourage Blackiston to look to the early part of the spring with the gelding.
“The plan was always to have him ready for this series and then make some part of the early spring before turning him out for the autumn,” he said.
Tiny’s Legacy is a $41 outsider with former Perth galloper He Or She, making his debut for David Hayes and Tom Dabernig, the best-backed runner, firming from $6.50 to $4.20 favourite on Friday.
