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By Ray Hickson

While trainer Marc Conners eyes the $2 million Five Diamonds with smart mare Rebel Rama he’s hoping the cards fall honest four-year-old Starstruck Barbie’s way as she chases smaller fish at Canterbury on Wednesday.

The consistent Starstruck Barbie has been working up to a win with placings in good form races at her past two starts and Conners said the key to her chances in the City Tattersalls Group Handicap (1580m) is simply the track condition.

She handled a soft 6 well when run down by Roots at Canterbury two weeks ago so with the track rating one point lower a day out from the race Conners is looking to the sky for some assistance.

“That’s our greatest concern, we hope the track dries up a bit more,’’ Conners said.

“If we get a bit of improvement to a six or maybe a five it will be a bonus for her.

“A lot the tracks she raced on early were wet and that didn’t help her and her dry track form is so much better.”

Starstruck Barbie runs second at Canterbury on September 21

That point is worth noting - of her 16 starts, eleven of them have been on soft or heavy tracks and just one of her four placings in the wet has been on a soft 7. Both wins have come on good rated surfaces.

Starstruck Barbie, $5.50 with TAB on Tuesday, chased home Cinque Torri at Wyong second-up but it was her game second to Roots that has Conners confident her turn isn’t far away, especially with a class drop in her favour.

She hit the lead around the turn in that Benchmark 78 race and dashed away but had no answer to the talented Chris Waller-trained mare’s finish but the trainer said it was no disgrace filling second place.

“That’s the way the race had to unfold for us the other day to have a chance, I just think she was beaten by the better horse and they beat the others convincingly,’’ he said.

“She did a good job last preparation, we had to go searching for drier tracks and she won the Albury Guineas.

“The run at Wyong was good and I think she was beaten by a pretty smart horse in Roots the other day and she goes there in good form.”

Meanwhile, Grafton Cup runner-up Rebel Rama will be racing for $3 million in her next two starts and Conners is rather bullish about how she’s coming up after a recent barrier trial win.

Rebel Rama will resume in the $1 million Five Diamonds Prelude (1500m) at Royal Randwick on Everest Day before chasing the inaugural $2 million Five Diamonds (1800m), restricted to five-year-olds, at Rosehill Gardens on November 5.

“She seems to have gone to another level now and hopefully we can snag either the Prelude or the main race,’’ he said.

“It’s amazing money and it shortens the pool of horses when you put them in age groups.”

All the fields, form and replays for Wednesday’s Canterbury meeting