JUNORTOUN trainer Dylan Marshall has July 4 circled on his calendar.
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It's the date he hopes to take his in-form mare Barbie Mattgregor to Melton to contest her first race at harness racing headquarters.
Marshall believes the much-improved - in behaviour as much as form - seven-year-old has certainly earned the right with a string of consistent performances during the regional racing period.
Following another well-deserved win at Lord's Raceway on Wednesday, Barbie Mattgregor's record under the revised racing format reads three wins and a second for six starts.
That formline is no fluke, according to Marshall.
"She has just kept on improving and we have been able to get her sound and keep her sound and she's repaying the favour," he said.
"Her previous 10 starts leading into it (regional racing) had been good anyway, she just hadn't had a lot of luck.
"Probably the smaller field sizes have helped her a little bit a couple of times, while a few other things have gone her way at different times.
"She's not the easiest horse to drive, she can get a little bit worked up.
"But sound and happy are the two key words with her."
Wednesday night's win, with in-form reinsman Josh Aiken in the sulky, boosted Barbie Mattgregor's overall record to six wins and 16 placings from 69 starts.
All six of those wins have been achieved since her arrival from up north, where the mare had her first 29 starts on either Queensland or New South Wales tracks.
With two wins and a second from her last three starts, Marshall felt Barbie Mattgregor had earned her crack at a metropolitan race.
"That's the next step for her. She hasn't been there before, but I think she can give it a bit of a shake," he said.
"She has been running good times and seems to be able to sit on the speed good. That's what you need to be able to do down there."
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