Travellin' Man will strip in the best condition of his life when he tackles today's $130,000 Telegraph Handicap at Trentham says trainer Tony Cole.
Travellin' Man has always looked headed to the top after winning four of his first five races as a three-year-old including a 1200m race at Trentham last January.
He has yet to win in three starts this campaign but earned favouritism for the group one Telegraph when storming home late for third behind Fritz and O'Malley's Boy in the group one $250,000 Railway Handicap at Ellerslie on January 1.
Cole's main concern today will be luck in the running after Travellin' Man drew the No 1 barrier. The fear is that he will get shuffled back along the inside.
"He will definitely settle back and there doesn't look to be a lot of others drawn in that will go forward," Cole said.
"We'll just have to hope that he can switch out and get a run near the top of the straight."
Travellin" Man is raced by the 20-strong Blues Brothers Syndicate that was formed by Cole a couple of years ago. The syndicate is racing three horses and has already tasted success at the meeting with Saturday's maiden winner Aykroyd.
The other syndicate horse is Charters, who will start on the final day of the meeting next Saturday.
"I brought Travellin' Man and Aykroyd at the sales while I bred Charters and put him into the syndicate," Cole recalled. "They are all by Blues Traveller."
Cole will wait to see how Travellin' Man performs today but will be reluctant to put him into weight-for-age events as a four-year-old.
With little else in the way of sprint races available, he may consider taking a team to Australia in the autumn.
Travellin' Man will be ridden by Leith Innes, who is on a crash diet to get down to 52kg. He normally rides at 54kg and has not eaten since Saturday night.
He also had a session in the sauna yesterday and will have another session this morning before heading to the races.
"I've got three rides before the Telegraph so that should help too," Innes said.
Meanwhile, Desert Rain has been cleared to run today.
The Honor Grades gelding was late scratched from Saturday's $50,000 weight-for-age Trentham Stakes when he refused to enter the barrier.
In Melbourne last spring he was ordered to trial after being scratched at the barrier.
As a result of Saturday's refusal, he was ordered to trial at Otaki yesterday and chief stipendiary steward Noel McCutcheon cleared him to run.
"It took a bit of time to get him in but we got him in two or three times," McCutcheon said.
"We tried several different ways including a blindfold.
"The thing is you can't push him or touch him - he just gets worse. As soon as you put a bit of pressure on him, he won't move."
Desert Rain was loaded backwards through the front of the stalls when he contested the Auckland Cup on January 1 but when that was tried at Te Rapa at his following start, he refused. But he subsequently walked in the conventional way without any fuss.
Saturday's late scratching cost the Wellington Racing Club $72,000 in bets that had to be refunded.
Desert Rain faces a modest field in today's $20,000 Wellington Cup Trial Handicap (2200m) with Breathless, Deegan, Onyx Own and Tights Delight all looking to run in the first three to be guaranteed a start in next Saturday's $270,000 Wellington Cup.
- NZPA
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