Can The Postman deliver?

Eight races fill the bill this Saturday night at headquarters, with race three, the Ladbrokes Mates Mode FFA, shaping as both an intriguing and standout race of the night.

Mr Mclaren from gate two and Captain Shuffles in three head the early market, with the Ben Crosby trained Captain Shuffles holding sway marginally at $2.80 on Friday morning.

The early stages of the 2138 metre contest could go a long way to deciding the outcome, with Mr Mclaren possessing plenty of early hustle and being driven by Leader Peter, you would expect no inch to be given in the opening exchanges.

Captain Shuffles will be third up from a spell and last week at the mile, Nathan Dawson opted to hand over to Always Smokin after finding the fence.

This week they step up to the middle trip, but The Postman is confident he has the horse this week to capitalise.

“He is pretty quick out, we will be having a look and see what happens,” Dawson said.

While he may not want to find himself facing the breeze, a highlight performance from the rising six-year-old came at the middle trip last season when powering home from the rear to stop the clock in 1.52.9 to highlight his closing speed.

“If he doesn’t lead, it isn’t the end of the world for him,” Dawson said of the five-year-old.

“He is a versatile horse that can race in front or off cover, so we will just have to see what happens.”

While the market may suggest it is a battle between Mr Mclaren and Captain Shuffles, the likes of Aroda, Tims A Trooper and Northview Hustler are all capable of winning with the right trip.

Aroda is the intriguing runner, having his first run since his New Zealand trip where he tackled the NZ Cup and Show Day Free For All.

Aroda winning the Queensland Sun

A mobile trot is scheduled as race 7 where Golden Sunset will be chasing two wins in the week after claiming her first Queensland victory on Wednesday night.

Showing the speed to take control in the early stages, it was one-way traffic thereafter as the seven-year-old proved too classy with a smart 1.57.1 rate over the 2138 metre trip.

With Saturday’s race over the same distance and from gate two, Nathan Dawson is confident he can go back-to-back.

“I think she can, I was pretty impressed last night (Wednesday night) and if she gets the same again and races like that, she is going to take a lot of beating.

“I’ve got the draw on my side, fingers crossed we can do it all again,” Dawson said.

Golden Sunset winning at The Creek

Duke Of Scotland will be out to enhance the upward trajectory of his career when he looks to overcome the outside second line gate in the Catch The Fire Band 5 Pace.

A winner of his past two starts, the most recent of those two wins was a career best mile set from the front where he was able to post quarters of 27, 29.6, 26.8 and 27.1 on his way to a 1.50.3 blitz.

He steps up to the middle trip for this week’s assignment, but the four-year-old is a progressive type that should have the class edge on his opponents and can move his record around The Creek to six wins from nine starts.

Race 1 is scheduled for 6.10pm, with race 8 at 10.05pm.

BEST BETS

Chris Barsby- R1 N7 MIKI MAGIC: “First up for the Turpin/McMullen stable last week from the same draw it faces this Saturday night, produced a really good run. I think she is going to be a little bit better for that effort and I think she overcomes the wide draw to score here this Saturday night.”

Darren Clayton- R2 N1 ROCKNPENNY: “Two starts back it had to chase home as Duke Of Scotland carved it out from the front and was the only runner to make ground. Last week he snagged back for position and ended at the rear of the field and then just left flat footed when Raging Sea hit the turbo. An improved gate is huge.”