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Turn The Ace has six victories at Te Rapa already under his belt, and Andrew Forsman sees no reason why he can’t add to that tally in the Dunstan Horsefeeds 1300 on Saturday.
The five-year-old Turn Me Loose gelding has a well-known love affair with the track and ran a competitive field off their feet fresh-up earlier this month, with a second-up record even more convincing with three wins from four attempts.
"It was a great effort, he always tends to run well there and his record is probably better with a run under his belt, so going into it we thought he had the potential to run well," Forsman said.
"When he found the front and railed up like he did, he was always going to be hard to beat."
The Cambridge trainer has secured Opie Bosson for Saturday's ride, where Turn The Ace is likely to adopt his regular front-running role in the open sprint.
"He'll go forward, he loves to just bowl along on pace and it's where he prefers to be," Forsman said.
"Whether that is out on the middle of the track at the end of the day, or on the rail I don't think it matters too much. We've got Opie on, and he'll be instructed to be positive and put him in the race. Hopefully he can do it again.
"It doesn't make much sense to stray too far from Te Rapa, so while he's in good form and racing well there, we'll keep racing there."
Among Forsman's other runners is a pair of last-start victors in City Girl and Lady Pappygate , with the former a half-sister to impressive juvenile and Gr.2 VRC Sires Produce Stakes (1400m) runner-up Rue De Royale.
"She (City Girl) put in a good effort and it was good to see her get her dues," Forsman said.
"She had run well last preparation from a couple of awkward draws and had to do a bit too much, so we gave her a break and she looks like she'll handle rain-affected footing too which is nice.
"She's quick and likes to jump and run, there will be a few others in the field with the same idea though so we'll try to be positive as that can be an advantage early on at Te Rapa.
"It's not easy taking the step-up and there's a few other race winners in the field that'll be hard to beat, but I'm sure she'll be competitive."
The daughter of Shooting To Win will line-up in the KPMG 3YO (1100m) with Joe Doyle on board, and he will also partner Lady Pappygate in the Champion Freight 1300.
"She's come along great since her win at Otaki, we wanted to run at Rotorua last week but she drew too wide. She's got a much better draw here, so the plan is to hold a positive spot in running so if she can trial or lead would be the intention," Forsman said.
City Girl and Lady Pappygate have been nominated for the ITM/GIB 3YO Final (1600m) later in the season at Ruakaka alongside stablemate Satin Doll, who will chase a breakthrough win in the Greene Racing Mile (1600m)
"She has a tendency to get back and leave herself with a bit too much to do, so hopefully by the time her race is run, the rail is a bit off for her sake, because she doesn't have that early tactical speed," Forsman said.
"Hopefully they are swooping down the straight by then.
"The Ruakaka race is an option for them, but nominations are asked for a long way out, so it really depends on whether they are up and going and in good form at the time. They are nice options to have, but not necessarily their target race."
Forsman's attention will also be across the Tasman at Flemington on Saturday, with Riproar, Mr Maestro and Full Of Sincerity accepting into their respective races.
A three-race winner, Riproar burst back into form last-start at Caulfield and remains at three-year-old open grade, while Group Two-performer Mr Maestro will contest a Benchmark 100 event over 1600m.
"It was a great return to form for Riproar, I think the drop back to 1400m helped him so he'll go again at the distance," Forsman said.
"My only concern is the barrier draw (10), he is going really well heading into the race and it's a competitive even line-up so he's just going to need a bit of luck from that draw. A soft track does help him, there's been a bit of rain around up there, but Flemington needs a fair bit on the day to become genuinely rain-affected.
"I don't think that will be the case, but there may be the fire out of the ground which is nice for him as he gets through rain-affected ground better than most.
"Mr Maestro was disappointing at Morphettville after being very good first-up, he was just messing around in the gates and missed the start when we had planned to be on pace.
"They sprinted off a slow tempo and he almost just got left, which is a forgive for him, but it was disappointing to go down there for a race we felt he could win and see it unfold like that.
"We've applied the blinkers for Saturday, he had a jump-out with them on last week and Damien Lane (jockey) thought they did switch him on a bit. It'll be the first time in them since he was a young horse, so hopefully that just sparks him up.
"Full Of Sincerity has been a frustration. To be fair to him he was outpaced first-up, he was good second-up over a mile then last-start at Caulfield we just had to ride him upside down in a field with no tempo, which wasn't where he likes to run his races.
"1800m at Flemington gives him every chance to perform like he did at Mornington that day, so if he does he'll run well."
