Cambridge trainer Lauren Brennan has Magnum right where she wants him ahead of his first run in today's Harcourts Whangarei 1200 at Ruakaka.
Brennan produced the Per Incanto gelding for a fresh-up win in the same race last year as a lead-up to his third placing to Te Akau Shark and Love Affair in the Group 3 Red Badge Sprint (1400m) at Hastings five weeks later.
"It's a race he won last year first-up and we've decided we'd follow the same sort of path — the first few races anyway — as last year," Brennan said.
"We're really happy with him. He's come up well."
A winner of four races in Singapore and placed in the Singapore Guineas (1600m) at Kranji before returning to New Zealand in late 2017, the now 7-year-old Magnum has established himself among the top echelon of sprinter-milers in the country.