KEY POINTS:
A relieved Gary Portelli believes Over The Wicket has finally shaken off his Golden Slipper hangover and is ready to fire at Rosehill tomorrow.
Over The Wicket returns to action in the Big Six Handicap (1200m) after a long layoff and will be ridden by Blake Shinn.
The 3-year-old comes into the race after winning a 900-metre barrier trial at Rosehill on January 9.
That performance came as a relief to the Warwick Farm trainer and signalled to him that Over The Wicket was back.
"He's come back enormous and his trial was outstanding," Portelli said last night.
The curse of the Golden Slipper struck during the week with last year's winner Sebring joining the list of recent winners to not race beyond their 2-year-old season.
Over The Wicket finished 11th to Sebring in the A$3.5 million race and Portelli admits that he was asking too much from the gelding in taking on the world's richest race for juveniles in April.
"Last preparation I spent a lot of time getting Over The Wicket into the Golden Slipper and by the time he got there he was probably cooked," Portelli said.
"It's true what they say about the curse of the Slipper and the Slipper hangover, this horse had one but he's back now."
Over The Wicket was given a couple of trials in August and September last year but turned in very poor runs on both occasions.
"I was hoping to bring him back for the spring but he just didn't furnish after the Slipper, he was so ordinary in those trials I decided to pull the pin on his campaign and give him time," Portelli said.
"He's carrying more condition this preparation and with his formlines I'm expecting him to be very competitive on the weekend."
Over The Wicket has one win and four seconds from his seven starts.
Two starts back he was beaten a long head by Sidereus in the group two Pago Pago Stakes after All American edged him out by a head to win the group three Skyline Stakes.
Over The Wicket is rated a $9 chance while the Chris Waller-trained Snow Alert is the $2.80 favourite.
Simplest and Nericon King will clash at Doomben tomorrow after a wet track forced both sprinters to be scratched from Monday's Australia Day meeting at the track.
Simplest and Nericon King have been nominated for the group one Newmarket Handicap at Flemington in March along with stable star Burdekin Blues who will start in Sydney ahead of his Melbourne campaign.
Baldwin rates Burdekin Blues, who strolled to a six-length win for jockey Larry Cassidy at Eagle Farm last week, as the superior sprinter but rival hoop Shane Scriven thinks otherwise.
"Shane has always thought Simplest is better than Burdekin Blues but I don't," Baldwin said.
"Larry Cassidy won on Burdekin Blues last week and is riding Simplest this week so we'll all probably have a better idea after Saturday."
Simplest earned a trip to Sydney last spring after recording six straight wins in Brisbane but could manage only fourth in the group two The Shorts (1100m) at Randwick and 10th in the Lightning Handicap (1100m) at Randwick in October.
- AAP
