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By Ray Hickson

It’s very much trainer Kerry Parker’s style to make use of the Midway races to transition a promising horse to city grade and that’s the aim when he takes Wild Thoughts to Rosehill on Saturday.

Trainer Kerry Parker (Pic: Steve Hart)

The four-year-old has won successive races on his home track at Kembla Grange and Parker said the Midway Handicap (1800m) will be a nice way to end his preparation and gain some intel about what his next campaign might look like.

“It’s his biggest test, he’s come along nicely and we get to learn a bit more about him,’’ Parker said.

“We get to test him out over further and I’m looking forward to the challenge.

“He’s a nice progressing horse and it’s a nice stepping stone going to the Midway now. I love these Midways. I’ve been there nearly every week lately, I think they are terrific races for us.

“I think he will turn up and race very well. He’ll go to the paddock afterward and aim up for something next preparation.”

Wild Thoughts, $3.10 with TAB on Thursday, was a $45,000 yearling purchase and being by So You Think it’s logical for Parker to believe he has scope to both improve with time and some distance.

So it wasn’t a surprise that he started to hit his straps when stepped up to 1500m at his third start, where he won a maiden easily on a good track before repeating the dose on a heavy 10 three weeks ago.

Parker said now he’s stretching out further he’d like to see the gelding settle a little closer than he has now he’s up to city grade, albeit Midway, and against a larger field.

“He’s very genuine, he’s still learning what it’s about but he’s maturing up nicely and putting it together and he’s building a good record,’’ he said.

“It’d be nice to think he could settle midfield somewhere without being out of his comfort zone.

“No doubt he is going to be doing his best work late as he’s done.

"He doesn’t have that instant acceleration, he builds through his gears and that suits him stepping out to the 1800m.”

The Kembla Grange trainer was relieved to see Justela show a return to form two weeks ago and hopes she can build on it in the Bankstown Sports Handicap (1500m).

He suspects the seven-year-old had an issue brewing given a few days after her failure at Randwick on July 12 she had some colic then bounced back to run a close fourth behind Monkhana two weeks ago.

“It was terrific to see her turn back to a bit of form. Her runs had been below average, I’d been worried a bit about her,’’ he said.

“It took a while for me to get it back, and I thought maybe she had something annoying her. After (the colic) she bounced out of it.

Wild Thoughts wins at Kembla Grange on August 7

“She showed some good determination which seemed to be lacking in her first few runs back. Now she’s back to her old self and I think she will run a lot better race.”

Meanwhile, Parker said Wagga Cup winner Flying Bandit will kick off his campaign at Randwick on Saturday week after he elected to bypass the Goulburn Cup on a heavy track.

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