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By Ray Hickson

Trainer Gavin Bedggood is very much doing a rain dance for his hardy galloper Just Folk to get his best chance to emerge at Rosehill on Tuesday as a Doncaster Mile contender.

Trainer Gavin Bedggood (Pic: Bradley Photos).

The eight-year-old is on the borderline to make the 20-horse field for next week’s Group 1 but Bedggood said the prospect of a wet track for the Group 3 $250,000 Racing And Sports Doncaster Prelude (1500m) gives him a chance to back up having regained form.

Just Folk has won two of 22 starts on good ground but seven of 23 on soft and heavy tracks so it’s natural the trainer would want to take any advantage available and the forecast excites him.

“He’s a handy enough galloper but he goes to another level when he gets on heavy ground,’’ Bedggood said.

“When you run on heavy tracks half handle it and half don’t. He gets up on speed and makes his own luck and makes it heavy weather for horses who don’t handle it chasing him.

“If you take out his last start he’s never run poorly for me, he’s been a great money spinner for connections and he owes us nothing.

“With the right conditions he’ll be highly competitive on Saturday.”

It’s been a month since Just Folk, $12 with TAB on Wednesday, beat just one horse home in the Blamey Stakes (1600m) at Flemington but his trainer was quick to be forgiving.

He’d shown with his efforts in the Supernova first-up and when he hit a soft 6 second-up at Flemington that he was back as good as ever and since his last start he’s won a reverse direction jump out at Cranbourne.

“He was obviously well below par last start at Flemington but he jarred up very badly,’’ he said.

“I said to the owners we have to hold out and wait for the weather to turn and we get a soft 6 or worse.

“We thought he ran very well at Pakenham first-up, it was good ground that day but Pakenham is a track that has good cushion to it.

“He probably exceeded all expectations that day, he was only half fit and the race was a bit of an afterthought, and he ran very well second-up on suitable ground.

“He was going to be four weeks between runs and he got heavy ground for a reverse way trial last week and Jamie Mott got off him and thought he trialled great.”

The gelding has 54kg in the Doncaster Mile and Bedggood said he’ll ask Tommy Berry to be positive from his barrier and either lead or sit up on the pace.

“The plan is for him to stay up and run in (the Doncaster), there’s not a lot else for him in the Sydney carnival if we don’t,’’ he said.

Just Folk's last win at Eagle Farm on June 1

“From a wide draw we won’t be looking to take hold, we have a horse that’s fit and has the ability to put himself up on speed and hopefully the track will race similar to last Saturday.”

Bedggood said he’d likely follow a similar path to last year with Just Folk and head to the Group 3 Hawkesbury Cup, which he won, before continuing on to Queensland.

All the fields, form and replays for Stakes day at Rosehill