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Chris Waller-trained gelding to barrier trial over 900 metres at Rosehill on Monday 

Nature Strip (Nicconi) will barrier trial over 900 metres at Rosehill on Monday ahead of his shot to win back-to-back runnings on the T J Smith Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) at Randwick on April 10. 

Trainer Chris Waller elected not to run the gelding in The Galaxy (Gr 1, 1100m) after the son of Nicconi (Bianconi) was allocated a top weight of 59.5kg. 

"At one minute to nine he was still in the field," Waller said. 

"He might have beaten them, but at what cost? How hard do they have to break themselves to get there and placing him in weight-for-age races is obviously the easy thing to do. 

"The owners were good. They said, 'look, we don't mind if he gets beaten', which is good from them and I don't either. 

"But I've got to make sure he's at his best in two weeks time."