KEY POINTS:
Astute Te Aroha trainer Keith Opie is confident class act Indikator can win again at short notice - just not today.
While Opie is thrilled with how his three-race winner has furnished as a 4-year-old, he expects speed machine Magic Tryst to be too slick in the DB
Breweries 1200.
"He's going to need the run," confirmed Opie. "That's why we've put him at Tauranga instead of Ellerslie on Saturday over 1400.
"I didn't want to hurt him first-up. And they were talking about Magic Tryst being a Railway horse.
"This fella would have to start the day before to be a chance in the Railway Handicap."
Opie, however, has another group one at Ellerslie in mind for the exciting 4-year-old son of Sandtrap: the Easter Handicap (1600m) on April 12.
Indikator proved last season he's a potential star over the trip.
In his first attempt at the distance he blitzed a $40,000 3-year-old field at Trentham by more than three lengths.
A bog track in a season-ender at New Plymouth foiled a successful 3-year-old career sign-off.
But Opie and regular rider Noel Harris are sure there are more riches ahead.
"I have a very high opinion of him," said Opie, a major black-type player in the 1980s with speed machines Ebony Belle, Era Of Triumph and sprinter-miler So Dandy.
"That's why he's had an easy time so far as a 4-year-old. He's had a lot of work, but I've deliberately left a lot of improvement in him."
If Opie gets the thumbs-up from Harris today, he'll steer an Easter Handicap road through the lower-grade carnival ranks.
"There's some lovely premiere meetings coming up and he's going to much harder to beat over 14-1600m once he's got this one under his belt," said Opie.
With a 2kg claim from James McDonald, Magic Tryst should have Indikator and company off the bit for a long way today.
Two starts back he was only caught inside the last 50m at Te Rapa against a much stronger R90 field than this, and he carries 1kg less.
The R80 clash over 1600m between promising locals Dutyful and Son Of Pupil is the other Tauranga feature.
Son Of Pupil didn't see a lot of rail when racing here in open company on January 2 and races like the 1600m will suit him.