Scone trainer Luke Pepper hopes a fitness edge and a wider gate will help Opal Ridge when she steps up to group 2 company on Saturday at Randwick.
The exciting filly will contest the Silver Shadow Stakes (1200m) after a luckless second three weeks ago at Rosehill over a heavy 1100m.
From barrier one, Opal Ridge raced on the fence but was unable to find clear running until inside the last 200m. She rattled home to finish 1.36 lengths behind Troach, which was then third in the listed Rosebud last week at Rosehill.
It was Opal Ridge's first defeat, after a winning debut at Canberra in January then an impressive three-length victory at Scone on July 15 in her return from time out with a hairline tibia fracture.
The comeback runs have given Pepper confidence Opal Ridge can handle the rise in class on Saturday for the $250,000 race for three-year-old fillies.
Opal Ridge is one of just three in the race which are not first-up from a spell and Pepper hoped that gave her an advantage.
"She does have a bit of a fitness edge over a few of these tomorrow and it's a good time to have a crack," Pepper said.
"Hopefully we're meeting a few of these fillies fit and ready to go. She's had a few runs under her belt, so she's at her top and I couldn't be happier with her.
"Obviously a lot of these fillies are coming back first-up. It's a pretty good field at the same time, but I think she deserves a crack at it."
A $13 TAB chance on Friday, Opal Ridge has drawn out in 13 in the 14-horse field. Pepper hoped that was a blessing in disguise.
"It would have been nice to draw the middle somewhere, but at the same time, it's Randwick over 1200 - a bit of a dogleg situation," he said. "If it was Rosehill or somewhere like that, we'd be terrified from that barrier, but it's not the end of the world.
"She ended up cuddled up on the fence the other day, and gate one got her beat, so hopefully we just get a nice run. I imagine she'll be midfield somewhere with cover. Even if that's three-wide, she's going to get her chance.
"I've been back and watched a few of these races the last few years and the horses seem to get their best chances down the outside, and with the track firming up, we are going to be wanting to be out in the clear."
Pepper said it was his biggest race as a trainer, given Opal Ridge was "a really good chance".
"I was absolutely rapt with the way she went last start," he said. "She obviously didn't get much room at the top of the straight and it took her a long time to get out but she attacked the line and that's what we wanted to see.
"The form out of that race has stood up as well, so that definitely gave us some more confidence, but it looks a really good target for her and we're really excited to have a runner in a group 2."
