Shane Tritton.
Hunter Valley trainer Shane Tritton will return to Queensland on Thursday in preparation for Saturday night's first Grand Circuit race of the season at Albion Park. The barrier draw has not been kind to the Tritton runners with Marty Monkhouser drawing gate ten while Mark Dennis has thirteen with the emergency still in the field.
"Obviously it isn't the best draw for my two but I'm not sure the barrier draw was going to be too important for Marty Monkhouser unless he drew barrier one," Tritton said.
"Totally different story with Mark Dennis, he needed the front row draw to have his best chance of winning so he is going to need plenty of luck."
Tritton believes Gold Coast Cup winner Avonnova is clearly the horse to beat after his dominant display last week.
"Avonnova has got the draw to win the race and I guess it will come down to whether he finds the front without doing too much because I think if the rest of the horses drawn inside him let him cross easily then we are all going to be racing for second place."
"Lauren (Panella) will drive Marty Monkhouser on Saturday and he is absolutely flying at the moment, he is going to need some luck but I think he will develop into a horse that will be very competitive against this better class of horse over the next twelve months, Pete McMullen will drive Mark Dennis."
A trip to Queensland with Suave Stuey Lombo was never considered and he is being aimed solely at the Miracle Mile.
"It was never really a consideration because he has been on the Miracle Mile campaign all the way along, we took him to the New Zealand Cup last year and it proved to me that we need to be concentrating on the shorter distances with him."
"Mach Beauty returned to the stables on Monday but he has a lot of weight to lose before he returns."
