Ballarat trainer Mitchell Freedman has Guineas ambitions for promising colt Bravo Tango, which begins a new campaign in the Inglis Dash at Flemington on Saturday.
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The three-year-old clashes with boom sprinter Nature Strip in the $250,000 Inglis Dash, 1100m.
"He's either on an Australian Guineas or a Randwick Guineas path should he keep stepping up to the mark," said Freedman, who is one the latest additions for Ballarat training ranks.
"This is the race we picked out to kick off in. It's been a race with a little less depth in previous years than this year but it was part of his program."
Bravo Tango showed his ability in his first campaign, winning at Donald and Geelong before closing strongly for second to Snitzepeg in a listed 1400m race at Flemington in early October.
"He appears to have probably come back in as good a shape if not better through natural maturity," Freedman said.
"So we're really looking forward to having him back at the races on Saturday.
"It's always been pretty well known to us that he had a lot of ability.
"We had the spring in mind for him but I just didn't think he needed a real taxing preparation so we decided to turn him out after his run at Flemington."
Freedman said Bravo Tango had only had one quiet trial going in and expects the first-up performance to bring his fitness on regardless of the result.
"I'm not sure that he can win but if he's strong to the line it would be a good first-up performance I would have thought," he said.
"Obviously Nature Strip has got the score on the board.
"But this is a pretty handy horse and we look forward to seeing him at the races."
Nature Strip, which has won his past two starts by a combined 11 lengths, will be having his first start for trainer Robert Hickmott.
He was previously in the care of Robert Smerdon, who has stood down from training duties pending a hearing into charges laid against him by Racing Victoria stewards with regard to alleged raceday treatment of horses.
A substantial number of Smerdon’s horses have been transferred to Henry Dwyer, who has his main training base at Caulfield as well as satellite stables in Ballarat and at St Leonard’s.
Under The Sea ($1.85 favourite) became the first of the transferred stock to win for Dwyer at Kilmore on Thursday.
CHAMPION mare Winx will meet Australia's best sprinter Redzel in a barrier trial at Rosehill on Monday.
Winx ended the spring with her 22nd consecutive win in her record-equalling third Cox Plate.
Redzel added the $10 million Everest and group 1 Darley Classic to his Doomben 10,000 victory in the winter.
Redzel's program is scheduled to begin in the Lightning Stakes at Flemington on February 17, with the Apollo Stakes at Randwick a possible starting point for Winx on the same day.