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By Ray Hickson

A stepping stone in both class and distance is how trainer Paul Messara sees promising four-year-old Avista’s task at her city debut at Randwick on Saturday.

Trainer Paul Messara (Pic: Steve Hart).

With three wins from four starts, by an average of about three lengths, the Precise Air Handicap (1400m) presents a chance for Messara to dip the toes in stronger company.

Avista put 4-1/2 lengths on her opposition in her runaway Muswellbrook win a couple of weeks ago and Messara said if she does measure up class wise then jockey James McDonald is going to have plenty to work with.

“She’s a nice mare with a good turn of foot,’’ Messara said.

“It’s obviously a big step up in grade but we think she’s up to that challenge. She has a good jockey on top, a good barrier, he just has to ride her well and she should be competitive.

“She’s got good tactical acceleration and that’s been key in most of her races she’s won. If she can get the race run to suit she should be pretty good.”

The mare opened $6 with TAB on Wednesday and was quickly in to $2.90.

Like a lot of the Paul Messara & Leah Gavranich team, Avista has been given plenty of time to mature and she didn’t make her debut until November last year.

It was her only defeat to date and at the shortest trip she’s contested, and Messara said while she’s back 100m for Saturday’s race she’ll be rising in distance next time around.

“It’s the right grade to go to, I would have liked to go to a Highway but there was nothing over the right trip,’’ he said.

“I’d love to go a bit further with her, probably her next start after this will be over a mile. I feel like the further we go it’s going to suit her better.

“Some of our horses are very immature at the time (of the sales) and that’s why they don’t get snapped up by the market. They do come good in the end with a bit more time and patience, a lot of my horses fall into that category.”

It’s not an ideal set up for Lady Olenna’s first-up assignment in the TAB Highway Handicap (1000m) but Messara said she needs to get her preparation going after missing last week.

The five-year-old was a Highway winner at Canterbury back in January and wasn’t disgraced in the Hunter & North West Country Championships at Muswellbrook at the end of her campaign.

McDonald also rides Lady Olenna and Messara said with even luck she’s more than capable of being in the finish.

“We got stuck last week with a wide barrier so we had no choice but to wait for another day,’’ he said.

“She’s going into it in good order, the 1000m will be a touch short of her pet trip but fresh I think she will run well.”

Meanwhile, Group 1 placed colt Cormier had a low key start to his spring running third in a 1000m trial at Tamworth on Wednesday.

Avista wins at Muswellbrook on July 26

Runner-up in the JJ Atkins Stakes, the three-year-old was given an easy time by Aaron Bullock and he’ll head back to the trials in a couple of weeks before a planned return in the Group 2 Run To The Rose Stakes (1200m) next month.

“There was nothing urgent about his effort and it was no more than what we wanted him to do,’’ he said.

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