Cambridge trainer Jeff McVean has only one query ahead of Rollout The Carpet's 1000 Guineas assault at Riccarton tomorrow.
He can't fathom why last season's top-rated 2-year-old filly has fallen so far out of favour.
TAB bookies rated the group two Matamata Breeders' Stakes winner a $9 chance yesterday, on the fourth line of betting behind Lovetessa ($4.60), Fix ($5) and Pure Elegance ($8) in the coveted $300,000 group one.
Yet the battle-hardened black-type performer has been in near faultless form since resuming as a 3-year-old in the Gold Trail Stakes on September 22.
Badly in need of the run, Rollout The Carpet ran a gallant second to Pure Elegance, beaten by just a neck.
Primed with a trial win 2 weeks later, she backed up raceday with an even more eye-catching effort for new campaign rider Mark Du Plessis in the James & Annie Sarten Memorial (1400m) at Te Rapa.
It took subsequent 2000 Guineas hot-pot Sacred Falls to run her down; finishing behind her that day were a trio of highly rated Riccarton hopefuls, Pure Elegance, Fix and Waterford.
"She pushed the other horse [Sacred Falls] pretty hard and he went down there [Riccarton] and won so I can't see why she can't do the same thing," said McVean, who trains in partnership with daughter Emma-Lee Browne.
McVean said the filly, who has one of the most explosive home-straight sprints of any Guineas runner, has purposely been raced sparingly at 3 to have her peaking for Riccarton.
McVean isn't concerned by the extra 200m tomorrow.
"The trip doesn't worry me, provided Mark rates her well. The key to that is getting a bit of a sit rather than leading."
McVean said Rollout The Carpet may also back-up in the Levin Classic (1600m) at Otaki at the end of the month.
Another proven group performer, Single Minded, could also sneak under punters' guard in the supporting feature tomorrow, the $225,000 group three New Zealand Cup (3200m).
The winner of two group two 2400m features last campaign was rated a $12 fixed-odds hope yesterday. Single Minded hasn't raced here since a Melbourne Cup campaign was scrapped last month, but reports since his return to New Zealand suggest he's dramatically over-the-odds.
