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By Ray Hickson

War Eternal might not be the best horse in the $200,000 Captivant @ Kia Ora Handicap (1400m) at Rosehill on Saturday but the sentiment from the Bjorn Baker stable is he’s arguably the best suited.

Luke Hilton (Pic: Bradley Photos).

Baker’s racing manager Luke Hilton said the seven-year-old ticks all the right boxes in the race known as the ‘Spring Preview’, won last year by Tom Kitten, given the soft to heavy conditions and how he’s tracking this campaign.

The gelding showed Hilton he is on target with a closing second behind The Novelist two weeks ago for a race that is something of a “mini grand final”.

“He’s the best suited, he’s going well and he catches a few of these first-up horses on the hop,’’ he said.

“I think he will find it a lot more comfortable at 1400m speed and it looks like we will get a touch better track than last start.”

War Eternal, $3.80 with TAB on Thursday, looked to get off the bit when the sprint went on before the turn last start and had to change course despite the small field.

Hilton said the last part of the race was impressive and if he’s going to put his hand up for another shot at stakes company this spring he needs to convert.

Earlier in his career War Eternal ran fourth in the Group 1 Randwick Guineas and with two runs back from a year off the scene Hilton says he can only run well.

“He’s got a fantastic third-up record, he likes to get his toe in the ground, he’s screaming out for 1400m and he’s ready to peak,’’ he said.

“He’s up in the ratings now, bordering on stakes level and this is a good stepping stone to that.”

Stablemate Highlights is worth forgiving, Hilton said, for his second-up failure at the same meeting where he beat one home behind Headley Grange.

“He went great first-up and he hasn’t been a first-up horse in the past so he might have been a bit flat second-up,’’ he said.

“He’ll improve on a better track, back to 1400m third-up. He’s similar to War Eternal in he goes well third-up and puts himself up on speed so might catch a few of them out.”

The $10m Golden Eagle would be the dream goal for promising mare Perfumist who starts her campaign in the Petaluma Handicap (1200m).

Hilton said naturally she will need to continue to take some leaps forward but she did that in her last preparation where she resumed in a Benchmark 58 at Bathurst, won three city races and contested the $3.5m The Kiwi before a spell.

“She just went from strength to strength, we’ve always had a good opinion of her but it took a while for the penny to drop,’’ he said.

“When it did she put a number of wins together and went all the way to New Zealand. Her trials this time back have been fantastic and we couldn’t be happier with her, we think she is a stakes horse in the making.”

On the subject of her trials, Hilton said her nine length margin in the latest may be a little misleading in the sense they just let her run over the 1000m while many of the chasers were stayers like Arapaho and Land Legend.

“With those Group and Listed trials a lot of times they’re not out to do a lot early and she’s a fast horse so we had to let her do her thing to get maximum benefit,’’ he said.

“She does like to roll forward and be in the first few, 1200m is a bit different for her but we’ll try and be somewhere in the first half.”

It’ll be a race morning decision as to whether Disneck joins Perfumist, given his general dislike for rain affected ground, but Hilton said they may have to run as it’s been a month since his eye-catching resumption.

“We had the Show County in the back of the mind as a race we’d like to get to and he’s missed runs in between now,’’ he said.

War Eternal runs second at Rosehill on August 2

“If we went there he’d be five weeks between runs and it might be a bridge too far but we’ll have a think.”

Luke Hilton on Crown The King (race 3): “He’s improving all the time and he really relished the heavy conditions there at Newcastle. He’s still learning, it’s a bit of a throw in the deep end but he’s a fit horse and handles wet tracks and that’s why he’s there. When the penny drops he’ll be a nice horse.”

On Bonita Queen (race 9): “She does like a better track but she will take her place, I don’t think she is far off getting to stakes level if she can improve this preparation. She’s had two fantastic trials and she’s fit and ready to go.”

All the fields, form and replays for Saturday’s Rosehill meeting