KEY POINTS:
Bulginbaah has a seventh placing alongside his name going into tomorrow's $60,000 AG Challenge Stakes at Wanganui, but you could not have a better lead-up performance.
Almost lost among the excitement of the nose, head fight between Mi Jubilee, Baltaine and Our Umaga at Te Rapa two weeks ago was the effort of Bulginbaah to finish only 1.7 lengths away.
Bulginbaah covered so much extra ground during that race from the wide draw he was entitled to finish 10 lengths away.
Had the race been run in lanes he would have won by a margin.
Although he has won on good ground, most of Bulginbaah's best efforts have been in the wet and the likelihood of rain is a bonus.
So he is stepping up from 1200m to a much more suitable 1600m and the fact he is racing on his home course, where he has twice been a winner.
Balmuse is clearly the horse to beat. Even allowing he enjoyed the perfect passage, he did a job winning the Rotorua Cup last start and is suited by weight-for-age conditions.
The underrated Delbrae, Baltaine and Buckle Your Belt all rate as trifecta chances.
