KEY POINTS:
Metekhi may lack one crucial weapon when he battles Christian Spirit at Alexandra Park tonight - enough rivals.
The pair will dominate betting on the $12,000 main pace, with Metekhi having won their most recent clash under similar circumstances.
That earned him a 10m handicap, which means Christian Spirit, the 40m back marker in the race, could settle a lot closer than the last time they met.
And that is where the small field could work against Metekhi.
The 5-year-old doesn't have the absolute class of Christian Spirit and his best chance of beating him is putting several lengths on him starting the last 800m.
But with only nine horses in the field, that will not be easilyachieved.
Standing start races with small fields at Alexandra Park tend to follow a similar pattern.
They step away, burn for about 500m and then cruise around in single file for the next lap before anybody gets serious.
If that happens tonight, it means a horse like Christian Spirit has the time to get within three or four lengths of Metekhi starting the last lap and can even get dragged into the race by the other favoured runners off a handicap.
All of which means that unless Metekhi has a lot of luck in the first 1500m, he could find himself left asitting duck for the back marker's attack.
While aware of that scenario, trainer Geoff Small believes Metekhi has never been better.
"He seems to be a lot stronger around the place, enjoying himself," said Small, who also has High Flyin in the race.
"We gelded him last season and it seemed to take him a while to get over but these days he seems to be right back to his best.
"The way he is working he will be hard to beat, even though Christian Spirit is a smart horse."
Christian Spirit goes into tonight's race still chasing a spot in the A$200,000 ($223,000) Chariots of Fire on August 31. Victory tonight would go close to guaranteeing him an invite.
The interesting runner is Diamond Dan, who was in superb form over the winter but hasn't raced since June 22.
He has won fresh-up before though, but faces a similar problem to Metekhi in that he may be closer to Christian Spirit starting the last 800m than he wants.
Small expects High Flyin to be improved by his fresh-up second to Metekhi last start and would not be surprised to see him in the finish either.
He rates Pocket Baileyship (race four) a better winning hope, though.
"I thought we fought on well after working hard early at Cambridge last week and was close to a win," said Small.
Meanwhile, the leading trainer is thrilled with the way champion pacer Changeover has come through last week's match-race with Gotta Go Cullen at Cambridge.
"He tightened up as you would expect after it but he has put all that weight back on now," he explained.
"That sort of recovery is important heading into a series like the Breeders Crown where he has to race Tuesday and then again Sunday."
Changeover heads to Victoria for the Breeders Crown next Tuesday and will have a week to settle in before the semifinals.
"At this stage I think we should have him exactly where we want him for the final (August 19)."
