BENDIGO trainer Chris Svanosio hopes he can overcome a few unknowns with Magicool in Thursday night's Group 3 Kilmore Trotters Cup.
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The six-year-old gelding heads into the race in winning form after his victory in the Group 3 True Roman Trotters Free For All at Tabcorp Park Melton on Saturday night, and will line-up against a superior calibre field, which includes three of the same opposition.
Like many in the 11-horse field, Magicool is a query at both the testing race distance and standing start.
"It was a good win on Saturday night, but this is a different race, the standing start over 3150m. It's about the longest trotters' race in Victoria," Svanosio said.
"He's never raced over this distance before.
"And he's taking on some good horses. He beat a few of them the other night, but he has only had 19 starts, so he hasn't had a lot of racing, and he has only had a couple of standing starts in his life. It will all be a bit different for him."
Magicool is still only a relatively new addition to the stable, having been based at Junortoun since mid-year.
The gelding has had four well-spaced runs for Svanosio since July 27 - all of them at Melton.
Very much a positive, Magicool does have 11 career wins from just 19 starts.
"I was involved with him early on when he was at Matty Craven's," Svanosio said.
"He was a really nice horse for Matty and he won the (Group 1) Need For Speed Prince Final, which is a $60,000 race and a (Group 1) Vicbred Platinum Final, which is a $50,000 race, as a young horse.
"He has always had niggling injury problems, which is why he hasn't raced much the last couple of years, so the owners have asked me to give him a go.
"We were very happy with him on Saturday night, but it is a bit of an unknown with the five-day back-up. That's another query, but he has pulled up well and seems well.
"There's some nice horses ... Cruisin Around, Maori Law and Fabrication have all won Group 1 races. Andy Gath's horse (Everybody Knows) has shown a fair bit since coming from New Zealand, so he will have to handle everything and go better than he did the other night to be able to win it."
Svanosio will also target one of the night's other feature races, the J & A Mazetti Pace with Repeat After Me, to be driven by Michelle Phillips.
The trotters cup at 8pm and pacing cup at 9pm are the first of this season's 27 country cups meetings to be run across Victoria.
Bendigo will get its turn at Lord's Raceway on Friday, January 3.
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