The Lindsay Park team of Ben, Will and J D Hayes are hoping to cash in with an in-form stayer at Flemington.
The Western Front will bid to continue his consistent form in a 2500m handicap on Saturday.
The New Zealand-bred galloper was a last start winner of the Listed Sandown Cup (3200m) on May 31 and will be aiming for the fifth win of the preparation on Saturday.
The Western Front started his campaign in January, finishing fourth in two 1600m contests and Flemington and Pakenham before striking winning form at Cranbourne over 2025m.
A trip to Sydney followed before The Western Front was stepped up in trip to win over 2400m at Caulfield and then 2500m at Flemington, both times in April.
The worst run of The Western Front’s campaign, on paper, came in the Listed Andrew Ramsden (2800m) when finishing sixth.
While the run looked disappointing on paper, J D Hayes said the team was far from disappointed which was borne out by his victory in the Sandown Cup.
Finishing second at Sandown was Zibulon who has since gone on to run second in the Brisbane Cup (3200m) last Saturday while in the Andrew Ramsden, runner-up Pounding went ran second in the Q22 at Eagle Farm.
“He was quite good in the Andrew Ramsden at set-weights as he was giving a lot of weight away,” Hayes said.
“He’s rock hard fit, he stays well.
“Ideally, we would love to stay at 3200 (metres), but this was the next option in Victoria, and he’s shown that he has trained on beautifully.”
Hayes said there are no specific plans for The Western Front at present, but while the gelding is in good form he will continue to race on during the winter.
Upcoming races may include the Banjo Paterson Series Final (2600m) at Flemington on July 4 and the Deane Lester-Flemington Cup 1849 (2800m) two weeks later.
“The remaining staying races through the winter are possibilities and then be the fit horse in the early part of the spring,” Hayes said.
“We’ll go run by run, but the plan is not to stop and hopefully he can be a bit of an ATM.
“They win more money in work than out of work.”
