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By Ray Hickson

It’s highly likely that Sizzle Minizzle won’t reach the heights of his 2023 Country Championships Final win but trainer Brett Robb is confident he can get back into the winner’s stall.

He hasn’t won a race since that upset win at Randwick in the wet but Robb is warming to his chances of breaking that drought in the $40,000 Parkes Services Club Parkes Cup (1600m) on Sunday.

The five-year-old’s run of outs stretches 16 starts and the past three have been in Queensland as Robb tested the water to see if he’d measure up there.

What he learned was he could potentially pick up a race but ultimately the prizemoney incentives weren’t there so after he ran sixth at Eagle Farm, beaten 2-1/2 lengths, two weeks ago he set his sights on Parkes.

Trainer Brett Robb (Pic: Grant Guy)

“With his benchmark being high we thought we’d see if he can match the city grade up there,’’ Robb said.

“We gave him a few runs and he’s not quite up to them.

“He could punch around and win one but we thought we’d bring him home while he’s fit, he only went around the other day, because he’s racing for the same prizemoney around here.”

The Dubbo trainer said a lot of Sizzle Minizzle’s form slump can be attributed to a long battle with some feet issues but he feels he’s winning it.

The gelding, $5 with TAB on Saturday, has drawn barrier two and Robb hopes he can take some advantage of it going out to the 1600m for the first time in almost a year.

“He’s going better than what he has been but still not back to how he was when he won the Country Championships,’’ he said.

“We had a lot of trouble with his feet for 10 or 12 months, it took a long time to get him right and we think we’ve got him right now.

“He’s just got to be in the right headspace to put his best foot forward.

“The mile will suit him, he’s been looking for it. He’s drawn a good gate and hopefully he can be a bit closer this time.”

Robb said he had given consideration to backing stablemate Rouge Moulin up in the Parkes Cup after his close up fifth in the TAB Highway (1600m) at Scone on Saturday but was leaning toward not lining up.

All the fields, form and replays for Sunday's Parkes Cup meeting