Tarry warned about the Australian-bred Willow Magic, “He is obviously a class horse. This is his second run after a rest and he is significantly worse off at the weights with some of the others. I still expect him to just about win it but am not overly confident that he is going to do what he did last time. At the end of the day he has bigger fish to fry and I was in two minds whether to run him here. But looking at the program there was no perfect race for him between now and his first big target the Senor Santa in about two months time so I decided to run him here and he can then come into the Senor Santa a little bit fresh.”

Tarry explained the reason for his long layoff, “He had inflammation of the tendon, but there was never a core lesion and he is fit and well.”

He said about Siren’s Call, who on 102 is merit rated seven points higher than any other horse in the race, “She is clearly the horse to beat and my only concern is that 1400m is a bit too short for her and if they go fast I hope she is not too far out of her ground.”

Captain’s Clipper is merit rated joint third highest on 94, but returns from a long layoff and he said, “I would have liked another couple of weeks, but he has done well enough to run a good race, although the draw doesn’t help.”

Trophy Wide is a progressive merit rated 84 and he said, “She has had the perfect prep and will run very well. She stepped up in class last time and coped nicely. I think she’s a runner.”

Jupiterandmars come into the race after the scratching  of Cotton Hill and Tarry said, “She should have it all to do. I’m surprised they didn’t accept Seventh Heart, who is five lengths better, but they chose to give her a 76 and gave Eliza Doolittle an 81 for winning a workrider’s maiden.”

Tarry’s older stalwarts Whiteline Fever and Halve The Deficit return from layoffs in the fourth, a Conditions Plate over 1400m. He said, “I am happy with Whiteline  Fever and expect a forward run. His target is the Hawaii again. Halve The Deficit was nominated for the Met, but things didn’t go smoothly so I had to make a plan B. This is a prep run for the features in the season. The Johan Janse Van Vuren filly (Winter Star) is very well weighted and will be hard to beat.”

Tarry gave the Jet Master filly Off The Mark “a big chance” in the third race over 1160m, but added, “Coming back in distance is my only concern.”