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The connections of promising three-year-old Excalibur face a nervous wait over the next 10 days before they will know if they have secured a start in the $1m Gr.1 Vodafone New Zealand Derby at Ellerslie on the 4th of March.

Trainer Shaune Ritchie thought a win in the last race at Ellerslie on Saturday would be enough for the Tavistock gelding to sneak into the Derby field as Excalibur duly obliged with a dominant performance. However the result of the Gr. 2 Retina Specialists Avondale Guineas earlier in the day has thrown a spanner in the works which could see him now sit outside the final field for the blue riband classic.

Entering Saturday’s racing Excalibur sat in 21st position on the Derby order of entry with the $13,500 he won potentially leapfrogging him into the final 18 starters for the race. However with the first four home in the Guineas all now exempt from the Derby ballot he has been pushed back down the rankings and will need several above to drop out of contention.

“At this stage we thought he might just squeeze into the field provided a couple who have said they won’t run do drop out,” said Ritchie.

“It will get a little tougher if Gingernuts pays the late entry fee as that’s one more ahead of us. We will keep our fingers crossed as our bloke is coming right exactly when you would want and we think he is a live chance.”

Ritchie was delighted with Saturday’s performance which came off the back of a promising run for sixth in the Gr. 2 Waikato Guineas.

“He went nicely at Te Rapa in a good field so we thought he would be hard to beat dropping back in grade on Saturday,” he said.

“He has a lovely action but he does a few things wrong and wanted to knock off when he hit the front on the weekend. When the other horse came up on his inside he got back on the job pretty smartly and went to the line very strongly.

“That’s what you want to see with the Derby in mind and we know he is rock hard fit and won’t have a problem with the distance.”

One of those who has complicated the Derby picture for Excalibur is his stablemate Redeem The Dream who fought doggedly in the Avondale Guineas to secure his Derby start.

“I think he could be the real smokey in the Derby as he has been behind the eight ball so far in this campaign,” acknowledged Ritchie.

“He had some enforced time off before resuming on Karaka Million night over 1400 metres and then stepped straight up to 2100m on Saturday.

“He didn’t chuck it away when they challenged him in the Guineas and can only be better for the run. We will pour the work into him now and he will also go into the Derby as a chance in what looks a really even field.”