While some may be thankful for the extra week ahead of Saturday's rescheduled Miracle Mile, Greg Sugars says it has worked against his charge Better Eclipse.
The $1million feature race should have taken place last Saturday but horror weather conditions and torrential rain forced it to be postponed by a week.
Big setback for Sugars
Connections of rival horses have suggested that the extra week off will work in their favour, but Sugars says that is not the case with his charge.
Better Eclipse, who is trained by Sugars' wife Jess Tubbs, has not raced since winning the Chariots Of Fire on 19th February.
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The gap between that win and the Miracle Mile was not ideal but they felt they had Better Eclipse in good shape heading into the race. So the postponement was a setback.
King Of Swing is the hot fancy and does not need much help, but Sugars believes the star pacer will be among those who benefit from some extra rest.
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"We think it’s probably gone against us somewhat because we already had two weeks since the Chariots of Fire and thought we had a perfect week leading into it last week, were sort of spot on and as well prepared as what we could be," Sugars told thetrots.com.au.
"A few others, like King Of Swing, had real gut-busters in the sprints the week before and were backing up a week later, so you would think if there was any chink in their amour or any ill-effects from those hard runs then it may have shown up last week.
"But they have got an extra week up their sleeve now and are probably in prime condition. And all of a sudden we are three weeks between races, so it’s probably not ideal."
