The Peter Rudkin-trained runner was hampered when finishing sixth in an 18-horse field on the last day of the New Zealand Cup carnival on Saturday, but he faces just six rivals in the feature race today.
Karaka Jack settled slightly worse than midfield at Riccarton before making his run at the 300m mark, getting squeezed for room with 100m to go and again near the line.
''He was a bit unlucky,'' Rudkin said.
''On two occasions he tried to poke through and the gaps kept closing.''
The major concern for Rudkin today is the rain which has hit Ascot Park in the last two days, with 22mm falling on Tuesday night and more yesterday. The track was rated at heavy11 yesterday afternoon.
''He has got form on wet tracks but it depends on how deep it gets,'' Rudkin said.
''He has been around on wet tracks and won before. The reason I came down here was for a wet track, but not this heavy.''
Another trip to Invercargill is on the cards for the son of Darci Brahma, with Rudkin eyeing up a rating 85 1600m on December 13.
''There's a good race there I hadn't spotted - he could come back here for that, all going well.
''[The 1600m] is probably his distance at this stage. I think he'll go further but he's got to learn how to settle. He's a bit keen.''
Rudkin knows what to expect with Karaka Jack, but he is more in the dark with Galaxy Gardens, who debuts in a 1400m maiden.
The daughter of Nadeem and Miss Galileo had five trials in the North Island for Graeme and Debbie Rogerson, including a second behind smart youngster Consensus at Rotorua in March, but is now at Riccarton with Rudkin after a few problems.
''She hasn't got the best of legs so I didn't want to take her to Cromwell next week on a rock-hard track,'' he said.
''I was thinking a bit of sting out of the track will be ideal . . .
I'm not sure whether she'll handle the really heavy going but it will tell me if she's going to be a winter horse or not.''
Rudkin has also had to deal with the 3yr-old filly's wind problems, so the run today will provide plenty of answers.
''She galloped up quite nicely before she came down, so it won't be a surprise if she goes good, but in saying that, it won't be a surprise if she goes bad as well because of the track conditions and her wind. So we're just going to find out what we've got, really.''
