Cyborg, pictured here winning at Wagga last start, will be one of the leading chances in the Murrumbidgee Turf Club Guineas prelude on Sunday. Photo: Trackpix Racing Photography.

The Tumut owned Cyborg will head a stronglocal contingent of three-year-olds taking on the Murrumbidgee Turf ClubGuineas Prelude at Wagga on Sunday.

The 1400m Benchmark 66 event carries aprize purse of $32,470 and is a precursor to the rich Murrumbidgee Turf ClubGuineas that will be held on May 1.

Cyborg, who is part owned by the ODonovanand Shanahan families, will be prepared by Canberra trainer Norm Gardner andridden Brendan Ward.

Connections will be confident too, afterdrawing gate five and calling on some very good recent form.

The three-year-old has won two from six andshowcased his potential last time out at Wagga, coming from last to run overhis opposition in an empathic 0.53 of a length victory.

The Canberra trainer believes his charge isa genuine winning chance, suggesting he is drawn to get a good run in behindthe early lamplighters.

I think he is truly up to the standard ofthis type of race and he is good chance, Gardner said.

He has drawn well; he is going super and Ithink he has a good chance of winning.

Gardner is hopeful that Cyborg will qualifyfor the MTC Guineas that will be run on the first day in May and said there isonly one thing that could get in the way of their grand plans.

If he qualifies for the (MTC) Guineas, hewill be in the Guineas, plain and simple, but we will need to see how he runsthe 1400m trip out and if he does that, we should be there next month, Gardnersaid.

Another major chance is the Tumbarumbaowned and trained My Solaki, who will be prepared by George Dimitropoulos andridden by NSWs leading jockey, Blaike McDougall.

The Supreme Class gelding showed some realgrit last time out at Gundagai, sitting outside of the early leaders before kickingaway and holding on for a 0.29 of a length win in an 1180m Maiden Handicap.

Connections draw gate four andDimitropoulos made it no secret that he believed My Solaki was up to this classof race.

He is going good enough for a race likethe (MTC) Guineas, so we thought we would give him a chance, Dimitropoulossaid.

The Tumbarumba trainer, who is currentlyworking his horses at the Murrumbidgee Turf Club, explained that his runner wasa tough, no nonsense type.

They will have to run him down, he will beup there and he is the type that will keep on going and going, Dimitropoulossaid.

Kerry Weir will also prepare his maidenrunner Crocodile Cod for the Benchmark 66 event and the Tumut trainer was happyto spruik the chances of his enigmatic three-year-old.

I know his last run at Gundagai looksreally ordinary but he is a massive big horse and just cant stop and start inraces like he did and he just needs to keep rolling, Weir said.

He takes another half stride compared toother horses but he needs momentum and I think he will go a lot better on thebig Wagga track.

The Cluster gelding, who will have AdrianLayt in the saddle, has certainly shown glimpses of his ability and Weirbelieves the Tumut runner is a chance of finishing top three but admitted itwill be hard for his maiden horses to beat performed runners.

He is tough as all nails and I think he isa 2000m type in the long run, but he is a big young horse and it is always hardwith maidens taking horses that have won a few, Weir said.

He is a definite chance of running topthree.

Link:

Local gallopers set their sights on Wagga Guineas - Tumut and Adelong Times