KEY POINTS:
Veloce Bella finished 1.6 lengths behind Princess Coup in the $2 million Kelt Capital Stakes at Hastings.
Taking a line through Princess Coup being one of the fancied runners in tomorrow's A$2.5 million ($3 million) Caulfield Cup, you have to assume Veloce Bella is a strong chance in the $65,000 First Sovereign Trust Rotorua Plate tomorrow.
The New Zealand TAB and punters certainly think so - Veloce Bella was last night a raging $2 favourite to take the feature.
That might seem short given the almost certainty of a wet track, but she has formidable form on rain-affected footing.
As a juvenile she finished second to Bianca on a heavy Ellerslie surface in the Foal Stakes, then last season won at Rotorua on heavy footing that required 1.30.1 for 1400m.
And the track was slow when she finished third to Princess Coup in the Oaks at Trentham.
Veloce Bella has only to manage the surface tomorrow to win.
As much as there are a couple of decent horses engaged, she represents the next level in class.
Reece Jones gets back in the saddle on the Matamata mare tomorrow.
The slow-maturing Figure Of Speech took to the end of his 5-year-old year to find his best form but it's difficult to argue with three wins and a second from his last four races before a break.
Ascot Isle and Cape Kinaveral are the only others in the market with Veloce Bella.
Pin Up Boy looked good finishing only two lengths from winner Pinsoir after traveling wide when resuming at Ellerslie last start.
With natural improvement and his ability to handle rain-affected track he should prove very difficult to beat in the $65,000 Lion Red Plate.
Noted mudders Rabkalajo, Woodbury Belle and Baltaine look obvious dangers, but Happy Sculpture and Lil' Monster are not hopeless in the wet.
Rabkalajo has only to re-produce the effort that saw him finish a close third to Dezigna on a firm track at Hastings last start to go close to winning.
