There is good and bad news for the fillies lining up in Saturday's listed classic at Wingatui.
The good news is they will not have to compete against unbeaten speedster The Precious One.
The bad news is they will soon.
The Claire Anderton-trained filly has not raced since September last year. The daughter of Darci Brahma and The Jewel had her spring campaign cut short when she was affected by a minor joint issue.
The 3yr-old has returned to Anderton's stable and is showing no effects from the injury.
''Everything seems good, thankfully,'' Claire Anderton said.
''She is coming up nicely and doing everything right. She is just doing three-quarter pace and a little bit better now and everything seems good.''
The Precious One is likely to be at the races late this month or in early April if she continues her good progress.
''I would like to think that within the next four weeks she would be ready.
''Once she gets up and galloping she does not take a lot. She's clean-winded.''
The Precious One was targeting the One Thousand Guineas during the New Zealand Cup carnival before her spring campaign was cut short.
There are no big races on her autumn agenda yet, but that could change.
''I haven't really had a proper chat with her owners yet, but we will just get her to racing stage and have a talk about it when we see how we are doing,'' Anderton said.
Veteran sprinter Koxinga will represent Anderton's stable for the first time at Wingatui on Saturday.
He was previously trained at Gore by Wayne Humphries, who owns the horse with his wife, Lone.
Koxinga has not won since October 2016.
''He has got ability and Wayne has done a super job with him, but he has not won in a while so we just thought a change of scenery might just refresh him.''
The 7yr-old will line up in a competitive open sprint that includes Signify, Coulee, Don Carlo and Starvoia.
The winners of the three recent southern guineas races will contest the listed race for 3yr-old fillies.
Gore and Dunedin Guineas winner Excelleration and Southland Guineas winner Global Thinking headed the betting when TAB fixed-odds markets opened yesterday. Excelleration was rated at $2.20 and Global Thinking at $3.40.
Canterbury filly Greenpark Gem was third favourite at $4.80.
