"So Zac [Butcher, driver] will drive her conservatively and if she is good enough to win great but there might be one of two just a little too experienced for her."
Among those should be Millie Sampson, who looked one of the best of her age in the spring before her form tapered off.
There was no shame in that as she found herself in a filly crop who seemed intent on breaking almost every national record but co-trainer Josh Dickie still knows Millie Sampson is better than she proved.
A private workout at home 12 days ago suggested to him that Millie Sampson may be ready to turn that around.
"I gave her a serious run at home the Saturday before last and she felt really sharp, the best she has felt in ages," said Dickie, who trains in partnership with his father John.
"So I think she is ready to show something like her best again and she has the gate speed to go forward."
Millie Sampson needs to win tonight and maybe even again in the next month as she sits just outside the guaranteed 12 spots for a Jewels start on May 31.
"That is her aim so we need some stake money to get a start." Dickie will miss Saturday's first day of the annual Hawera meeting for the first time he can remember as he heads to Addington to partner Speeding Spur in the $25,000 Trotting Stakes.
He was impressive winning at Cambridge last start and while southern juvenile trotters are usually more advanced than their northern rivals at this stage of the season, a trial at Ashburton on Tuesday suggested Speeding Spur has the motor to match the locals.
"He actually ended up in front, which I didn't want, and started goofing around and hit a marker," explains Dickie.
"But once he got balanced up again he trotted home [400m] in 27.5 seconds which is good for a 2-year-old. So he will be a chance on Saturday."
