It’s fair to suggest Tromos’s rivals in Friday afternoon’s $20,000 SEW-Eurodrive Yarra Valley Pacing Cup can’t really compete with his formline.
Not only is the Jayne Davies-trained gelding a past winner of the race, he boasts a career record of 27 wins from 94 starts, for more than $450,000 in prizemoney, and at his most recent outing beat Sting Lika Bee.
But the rest of the seven-horse field can take solace in the fact that that win was almost a year ago.
The 10-year-old son of Troublemaker, who has been racing at the highest level since his two-year-old days, has not been seen at the races since winning the $20,000 Coca Cola Amatil Cup at Ballarat on Boxing Day last year.
Davies said Friday’s discretionary handicap, to be run at 5.03pm, was the ideal place to kick off for Tromos.
“It was a good option with most of the better horses being in town for the Victoria Cup and the consolation and it’s a bonus that there are only seven runners in it,” she said.
“He’s had two trials. He had one trial at Warragul, which was a mixed trial, and he trialled all right the other day at Cranbourne. He never got clear until late in the straight and Chris (Alford, driver) said he went to the line well.
“He does go well fresh, but he’s not wound up 100 percent that’s for sure.”
But for all of his impressive credentials, Tromos has plenty to overcome if he is to emulate his Yarra Valley Cup win from two seasons ago in Friday’s race.
Along with having his first start for 50 weeks, he also has a 20-metre handicap and a small but select field of rivals to contend with on Friday afternoon.
Monarco Man, the third placegetter in the race in which Tromos beat Stinga Lika Bee, will step out for the first time since being edged out by Jadah Rose in the Wedderburn Cup.
Talented David Aiken-trained five-year-old Karlsruhe will back up after his win at Moonee Valley last Saturday night, as will Quantum Kiwi and Touch Me Toes, who ran the quinella in another race at the same meeting.
But Tromos will still need to impress if he is to be up to contesting some of the races Davies has in mind for him.
While the prestigious $400,000 Group 1 Hankook Tyres Hunter Cup (3150m) – in which Tromos ran second in 2006 – on February 3 might come a bit soon, Davies has her eyes firmly set on the Watpac Inter Dominion.
“This is just a stepping stone, somewhere to start for him,” Davies said.
“Whether he’s ready to go in the Hunter Cup I really don’t know yet, but we’ll definitely aim him up at the Inter Dominion.”
The SEW-Eurodrive Yara Valley Pacing Cup is the headline act on Friday's eight-race card, which kicks off at 1.22pm.