Queanbeyan trainer Todd Blowes has every confidence Noble Boy will handle his biggest test in Saturday's $1 million The Gong.
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The Country Championships winner has been close to the mark in all three runs this preparation, but steps out to the 1600m trip for the first time in his career at Kembla Grange.
"We always wanted to get him out to a mile this prep, why not do it for a $1 million race," Blowes said.
"He gives us every indication he'll run a strong mile, so hopefully he'll be there in the finish.
"No doubt he'll go back and settle and with the big Kembla straight we might get last shot at them."
Jockey Brodie Loy had Noble Boy looming in the Group 3 Chatham Stakes over 1400m at Flemington earlier this month, eventually finishing third behind Reykjavik after switching back to the rail.
He closed off well from a long way back for fourth in the Goulburn Cup - won by The Gong rival Quackerjack - after starting the preparation with a grinding fourth in The Kosciuszko at Randwick.
The Kosciuszko was won by Handle The Truth, trained by Canberra's Keith Dryden, to the cheers of the Shellharbour TAB punters club, who won a share in the horse for the day as part of the annual race promotion.
"He hasn't been winning, but he's been running cracking races," Blowes said. "His sectionals have been fast enough to be winning.
"In Melbourne he wasn't on the better part of the track and ran really well, he got too far back in the Goulburn Cup and just probably didn't have enough luck in running at the Kosciuszko.
"So while we haven't won this prep, we're really happy with him."
Noble Boy is at $8 in the TAB market, behind favourites El Dorado Dreaming, trained by Kris Lees and John Sargent's Luvaluva.
Luvaluva may only have four wins from 25 runs, but has tasted success at the track, winning last year's Kembla Grange Classic.
Quackerjack has drawn wide for Saturday, but is also well in the market at $6, with Chris Waller's Star Of The Seas - who ran third in the Epsom Handicap last month - next at $7.
Blowes has maintained his continued trust in Loy to take the ride, having held the reins at Goulburn and Flemington.
Loy will drop to 53kgs for the race, as he continues his push back into the Sydney racing scene, after a ban for drug-related charges and giving false evidence to stewards last year.
Tim Barrow
When it comes to sport - at professional and community level - in the Illawarra, I'm here to provide insight, context and opinion, as well as the latest news you won't find anywhere else.
When it comes to sport - at professional and community level - in the Illawarra, I'm here to provide insight, context and opinion, as well as the latest news you won't find anywhere else.
