KEY POINTS:
Not many horses use races like tomorrow's $130,000 Hawkes Bay Gold Cup (2200m) as a trial, but Ring Of Fire is.
Co-trainer Donna Logan believes she has no other options.
When Ring Of Fire beat only one horse home behind Sir Slick in the Awapuni Gold Cup last
start he placed a large question mark over a proposed trip to the Brisbane winter carnival.
Not that the Logan/Jim Gibbs stable expected Ring Of Fire to beat Sir Slick, but equally it did not anticipate the class stayer to be 10.2 lengths behind and nearly six lengths from the second horse.
Logan believes Ring Of Fire getting his tongue over the bit caused the problem.
"The stewards had him thoroughly checked out on the day at Awapuni and the test threw up nothing.
"When he came back in after the race he had his tongue way back in his mouth. He used to get his tongue over the bit as a younger horse and we used to tie it down, but he's been fine for a long time and we haven't been using it," said Logan.
Ring Of Fire will wear a tongue tie tomorrow and needs to show his stable he is in the right form to take to Queensland.
"Originally we'd planned to run him in just an ordinary handicap at Te Rapa next week.
"He would have got a lot of weight and if he'd been beaten you might have said it was the weight that counted against him.
"Or if he won, you'd say it was because it was an easy field - you would have learned nothing.
"By running him in this race against the best around we'll get a guide."
Even carrying equal topweight of 58kg, there is little doubt Ring Of Fire is capable of winning if close to his best.
He is being aimed at the Brisbane Cup, which for the first time has been shortened from 3200m to 2400m.
After that there is the Caloundra Cup, a race in which he lost rider Stathi Katsidis last year after the pair had won the A$190,000 ($213,000) Tatts Cup.
Logan is keen to see if Ring Of Fire will manage 3200m and gets the perfect opportunity with the A$150,000 Queensland Cup on July 7, a new race at the carnival.
It is unlikely to attract a Brisbane Cup-type field and if Ring Of Fire manages the extreme distance he will be brought home and aimed at next year's Auckland Cup.
With the track expected to be reasonably good, the field looks particularly even.
Apart from weight, there is little to separate Desert Flight, All Square, Valley Chief, Cypress Point and Gorgeous George.
Cypress Point has been in good form and his beaten run over a too-short 1600m on an unsuitable slow track in last week's Champions Mile at Ellerslie can be forgotten.
For similar reasons, Gorgeous George should not be gauged on his beaten run at Trentham.
The track that day, especially in the home straight, was considerable worse than the official rating.
He is best on firmish footing, but the worst aspect of that day at Trentham was that the footing changed the racing pattern and made it impossible to lead on the rail and win.
When Hayden Tinsley took Gorgeous George to the centre of the track on the home bend it meant horses could attack either side and the advantage of leading was lost.
This race will be run much more to suit.
Mark Brosnan has done a wonderful job of maintaining Valley Chief's form through a campaign and the benefit of that should once again be seen.
* Latest TAB odds (Hawkes Bay Gold Cup): $4 Valley Chief; $4.60 Ring Of Fire; $6 Cypress Point; $10 All Square; $13 Desert Flight, Gorgeous George; $16 The Veep, Kaapeon Way; $18 Taikorea, Madame Shinko, Lady Atire; $26 Sordid Affair, King Edwin; $31 Melanion.
Go for gold
* Classy stayer Ring Of Fire ran a shocker behind Sir Slick in the Awapuni Gold Cup last start.
* Co-trainer Donna Logan believes Ring Of Fire got his tongue over the bit during the race.
* He will wear a tongue tie tomorrow and needs to prove his form is good enough to justify a Queensland campaign.
* The Gold Cup has drawn a very even field.