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Talented sprinter Tactical Advantage will open Newcastle trainer Kris Lees' Melbourne spring carnival campaign in the $1 million Moir Stakes at Moonee Valley on Friday night.
Lees has booked Sydney-based Brenton Avdulla to ride Tactical Advantage in the G1 sprint over 1000m where his rivals will include Everest slot runner Sunlight and the enigmatic Nature Strip.
Sunlight's trainer Tony McEvoy was left between a rock and a hard place after the mare was among the Everest contenders scratched from the Randwick meeting last Saturday due to the rain-affected track.
She now faces a float trip to Melbourne this week before McEvoy sends her back to Sydney for an eight-day back up in the $500,000 Premiere Stakes (1200m) at Randwick on October 5 to ensure she is at her peak for the Everest.
"She'll go back up to Sydney and run in the Premiere and that's two weeks until the grand final," McEvoy said.
"It's frustrating but it's what we've got planned. She gets very stimulated travelling and the last time she was at Moonee Valley she won the William Reid.
"She will back up in the Premiere Stakes next week as I want her to have three runs going into the Everest"
On Friday night Sunlight will aim to join Black Caviar, Apache Cat and Miss Andretti as winners of the William Reid Stakes and Moir Stakes in the same year.
The Chris Waller-trained Nature Strip has a different mission in the Moir Stakes, one of redemption after he failed in the race last year as an odds-on favourite when prepared by Darren Weir.
Luke Currie keeps his regular sit on Sunlight in the Moir Stakes while James McDonald will fly from Sydney to continue his association with Nature Strip.
McDonald's attempt to get Nature Strip to settle behind the speed when he resumed in the Concorde Stakes (1000m) at Randwick on September 7 backfired, suggesting a return to using his natural brilliance from the gates will be applied in the Moir Stakes.
Brenton Avdulla will ride Tactical Advantage, who will be having his first start since he raced in Brisbane in June. He had his first start under wfa conditions at the Brisbane carnival, finishing only 1.7 lengths behind The Bostonian and Osborne Bulls in the G1 Doomben Ten Thousand (1200m) in May.
"Things didn't work out in Brisbane," said Lees, who has given Tactical Advantage two recent provincial barrier trials at Gosford and Wyong.
"He's in the right shape to take on 1000 metres first-up."
Lees has an impressive record in feature races in Melbourne where he has won 10 Group and Listed races including four of his 15 G1 wins.
Lees scratched his Everest slot runner In Her Time from The Shorts at Randwick on Saturday because of the track conditions and now plans to start her first-up in the world's richest turf race.
In Her Time boasts a super fresh record, having recorded first-up wins in the 2017 Premiere Stakes at Randwick, 2018 Galaxy at Rosehill and 2019 Lightning Stakes at Flemington.
"We know she is very good fresh. She just needs a good track on Everest day," Lees said.
Santa Ana Lane, the other major scratching from The Shorts on Saturday, will either run first-up in the Premiere Stakes at Randwick on October 5 or start at Flemington on the same day in the $300,000 Gilgai Stakes (1200m) as his Everest lead-up.
