Josh Formosa, a virtually unknown trainer when he took out the 2024 Ladbrokes Million Dollar Chase with his $10,000 buy Blue Kermaro, has three powerful prospects in Saturday night's heats of the group one Vic Peters Classic at Wentworth Park on Saturday night.
Formosa has Repellent in heat two, Retaliation in heat three, and Conceivable in heat five.
Now a leading trainer in Victoria, Formosa shared ownership of Blue Kermaro with Ben Peart, and surprisingly rates their dog Conceivable as possibly his best prospect on Saturday.
Repellant has won six of 15 races and Retaliation eight from 16, while Conceivable has landed just three from 16 outings.
But Formosa said Conceivable, who has box two, is the most reliable beginner of his trio.
"He is improving all the time and is a dog on the way up,'' Formosa said.
"When I trialled Conceivable with Repellent at Wentworth Park on June 18, Conceivable finished second, beaten a length, but made the early pace and posted a first split of 5.39.
"Considering it was his first time out of the boxes at Wenty that was a terrific time and I can't see why he can't go as fast or even better on Saturday.
"He is well drawn in box two, especially as another Victorian dog, Paw Damon, has box three and he is a slow starter.''
Repellent, who has box two, recorded a slick 29.66 in his Wentworth Park trial while Retaliation, who will also start from box two, went solo with a 29.56 trial.
"Retaliation is a bit quicker than Repellent,'' Formosa added.
"But I'm happy with each of my dogs being drawn in two because they all needed to be positioned close to the rails.''
Retaliation's toughest opponent should be Wentworth Park newcomer Blue Storm, trained by Ken Burnett, whose dog Power And Glory won the Ladbrokes Golden Easter Egg-Million Dollar Chase double last year.
There isn't a better boxed Vic Peters candidate than Showman Baz, who has drawn eight in heat two.
Trainer John Smart said: "It's a pity Showman Baz is such a wide runner but at least he has drawn where he wants to be.
"Since being placed in a couple of races at The Q, Showman Baz has come back to Sydney and had two trials at Wentworth Park.
"He went enormous in a short hand-slip and then on Monday I gave him a box-to-box hit-out and he went terrific again, clocking 5.46 for the first section.
"Showman Baz is feeling good and going great so he just has to step out cleanly to be in with a good chance.''
Spencer Banner wound up his preparation for heat one of the Vic Peters with a sizzling post-to-post slip at Wentworth Park on Monday, clocking 24sec flat.
Trainer Barry Gibbons said: "Boxes don't matter much to him but I'm satisfied with his box six draw.
"Spencer Banner is still learning and nailing the start from the Wenty 520m boxes hasn't quite clicked with him yet.''
Gibbons trained the winners of the equivalent race for bitches, the Peter Mosman Opal, in 2020 with Lilly Banner and four years later with Tulsi Banner, so knows that it takes to win a Wentworth Park classic final.
One of Spencer Banner's toughest rivals in heat one is Master McGraw, whose trainer Jack Smith won the 2019 Vic Peters final with Feral Franky, the sire of his 2026 candidate.
Australia's most travelled trainer, Victoria's Mark Delbridge, has two starters in each of the Peter Mosman and Vic Peters qualifiers on Saturday.
He has Paw Zhana in box seven and Paw Isla in box four in heats two and four of the Peter Mosman Opal and in the Vic Peters Classic has Paw Carver in box one in heat two and Paw Damon in box three in heat five.
"Paw Zhana would be better drawn inside but is going extra well while Paw Isla can win but needs to lead to do so,'' Delbridge said.
"Paw Carver has not raced at Wentworth Park but has trialled a bit over 29.70 there and is a better chance than Paw Damon who is very slow early.''
After Saturday night Mark Delbridge will head to Grafton with Croydon, Paw Sapphire, Paw Zuri and Solar Spectrum, and then trek to Darwin for the Cup there with Croydon and his 2025 National Derby winner Paw Oswald.
Jodie Lord trained the 2021 Vic Peters Classic winner Bandit Ned and is banking on the in-form Little Vesper to win heat one of the Peter Mosman Opal to give her a crack at that final on Saturday week.
Todd Barnes, whose mother Minnie Finn won the Vic Peters in 2022 and 2023 with Gatlin and Zipping Remus, has outstanding Peter Mosman Opal prospects Pound Keeping in heat three and Money Keeping in heat five.
Pound Keeping should win while Money Keeping faces stiff opposition from Status Jewel, a winner of five from six starts and well drawn out wide in box seven.
Between them his pair have won 10 of their 13 Wentworth Park appearances.
Saturday's best bet should be Foreign Capital in the top grade 520m Stu Steele Stakes, as he had no luck when third from box three and second from box eight at his past two Wentworth Park outings.
Foreign Capital has box two and has won five of his dozen races wearing the striped rug.
