All the Wine has been the best backed early for the $75,000 Sportsbet's The Hotham maiden in Ballarat on Friday.
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The six-year-old is attempting to improve on a close second in the 1200m event last year, as well as giving Swan Hill trainer Nathan Hobson a second consecutive win in the The Hotham.
All The Wine tightened to second favourite after opening up on the third line of betting.
Queenslander Hidden Storm is the early favourite.
Hobson will saddle up two starters in The Hotham on Friday's nine-race program, with Night Whisper joining his stablemate.
All The Wine had just the one start after his run The Hotham last year before joining the Hobson team. Hobson gave the gelding two starts and then tipped him out for break in mid-December.
Hobson said it had been at that point that connections had decided to have another tilt at Ballarat Turf Club's rich maiden.
While All The Wine has not race since December, Hobson said he was happy with his preparation.
Henry's Affair won The Hotham last year in his first outing for Hobson after being specifically being purchased from Queensland to run in the race.
Hobson said he had adopted exactly the same approach with Night Whisper, which was also from the Sunshine State.
He said he had picked six-year-old after taking a look at a few of his runs.
Hobson said The Hotham was a great opportunity for connections with experienced maidens, with $41,000 first stakemoney on offer.