Surprise Baby has had just one race this year and faces her toughest Wentworth Park assignment on Wednesday night but trainer Leo Vanderburg believes box eight could tip the scales in her favour.
Surprise Baby will wear the pink rug in the 520m Free-For-All and Vanderburg conceded his bitch probably needed the outside draw to beat the likes of group 1 Dapto Megastar winner Ritza Donna, who toppled Wow and Ties That Bind in a similar race at Wentworth Park on Saturday.
"After she finished fourth at Wentworth Park on December 8 Surprise Baby was injured and while I probably could have raced her earlier, I decided to give her plenty of time and waited until February 21 to bring her back in a 520m race at Bathurst,'' Vanderburg said.
"She won that in good style and since then has been kept fresh with just a couple of hand-slips, that's all she needed, and she is ready to go.
"Surprise Baby is a good little bitch and could not be drawn better than she is in this race.''
Barooga Franky and Soul To Squeeze, who have boxes six and seven, are in good form and have been showing good early speed but they are likely to drift towards the rails so could give Surprise Baby a clear run to the first turn.''
Boom youngster sprinter Simply Limelight should open his account on Wednesday despite drawing box four in the NSW GBOTA Welcome Maiden, 520m.
Simply Limelight will appreciate having a vacant box on his left as when he finished second to Doonan in a similar race on February 19 he exited box seven and veered sharply to the left in the charge to the first corner.
Simply Limelight gave Doonan a big start in the middle stages and flashed home to go down in a tight photo finish.
Even in defeat the Peter Rodgers-trained Simply Limelight clocked a flying 29.71, outstanding figures for a maiden who does not turn two until June.
Most interesting runner on Wednesday is Ultra Impressive, who will be having her first start since May last year when she steps out in the Ladbrokes Switch Stakes, a 520m fifth grade.
Ultra Impressive is a litter sister to top grade speedster Good Odds Cash but after winning on debut in 30.10, fastest time of the night over 520m at Dapto on May 6, she injured a stopper tendon and has not raced since.
"Because she had been out of action for longer than six months Ultra Impressive had to trial before the stewards at Dapto on February 17 and she clocked 30.15,'' trainer Mark Bell said.
"That shows she is going as well as before she got hurt but my concern is she has not had a lot of field experience.
"It was crucial to her prospects on Wednesday that she drew inside and she has come up with box two that is a big plus.''
Redhead Rider shocked most punters with his all-the-way win as a $34 outsider at Wentworth Park last Wednesday but trainer Troy Vella was not so surprised and gives the dog a chance again in Wednesday's Ladbrokes Easy Form Stakes, a 520m fifth grade.
Last week Redhead Rider began brilliantly from box eight and after posting a fast initial split of 5.43 won by four lengths in a handy 30.15.
"The only thing that surprised me last Wednesday was how well Redhead Rider handled box eight,'' Vella said.
"In a previous race at Bulli from box eight he wanted to crash left when the lids lifted but he handled the outside well at Wentworth Park.
"Although he had not raced at WP before last week Redhead Rider had been to the track to trial on every Tuesday over the past month so I did plenty of work with him to ensure he knew what to do.
"He did have a couple of slow beginners drawn next to him last week so Redhead Rider will need to step away smartly again on Wednesday.''
Mowski Bella, who has box one, looks one of Redhead Rider's toughest opponents after scoring two wins and three seconds from her past five outings in shorter races a, t Bulli, Nowra and Goulburn.
Trainer Denice Warren said: "The way she has finished at the end of her past couple of 440m races at Goulburn suggest she will run 520m at Wentworth Park.''
