Melody Belle will attempt to defend her race title for trainer Jamie Richards but shewill have to hold out her stablemate Te Akau Shark in the group 2 Foxbridge Plate.
Te Akau Shark is only slightly better off in barrier 11.
Richards admitted drawing those starting spots made his attack on the race a whole lot trickier.
"They haven't made it easy for us given the draws, so they've got a job in front of them," he said.
"That makes it tricky."
The stablemates competed in separate trials at Te Rapa in preparation for their resumptions.
Te Akau Shark came from off the pace to win both his trial starts impressively.
Melody Belle finished strongly for a third in her first trial, and was in behind the leaders in fifth in her second.
Though Te Akau Shark may have looked sharper in his preparatory runs than his stablemate, that may not mean a lot after the gates open tomorrow.
"Te Akau Shark probably trialled better than Melody Belle and heads into the race in really good order," Richards said.
"But in saying that, it's hard for a horse that hasn't won a group 1 [race] to try and beat a horse that has won six. So it's going to be a hell of benchmark for him, but both horses are going well."
Richards said Melody Belle might not have been able to show her best in her most recent trial after being caught in the worst part of a heavy Te Rapa track.
The track was rated in a better condition yesterday at slow9.
A return to a heavy rating looks possible given the weather forecast for showers.
Richards said the second trial would have brought Melody Belle on and she will be
back in blinkers tomorrow.
Melody Belle opened at $3.80 with bookmakers for the Foxbridge Plate, behind Te Akau Shark, who was at $2.20.
Rising winter star Helena Baby ($4.60) and Endless Drama ($6.50) headed the rest of the field.
Richards admitted the fourth-favourite could be a hard horse for his pair to catch from his barrier 2 draw.
"Endless Drama is going to get the gun run and could be very hard to beat, because he looked super at the trials."
Helena Baby will attempt to win his sixth consecutive race tomorrow following his brilliant last-start victory in the Opunake Cup.
