Talented three-year-old Sweet Leader faces a moment of truth at Te Rapa today.
He will be coming back from surgery when he resumes against a competitive age group line-up in the Inglis Sales Cambridge Breeders' Stakes.
"He's had a wind operation since his last run," said Lance O'Sullivan, who prepares the son of O'Reilly with Andrew Scott.
"He looks extremely well and he's forward enough to go a big race."
While all the outward signs are positive, O'Sullivan said the true test was yet to come.