Neville Layt is hoping fellow Queanbeyan trainer Joe Cleary's blueprint for success in the $150,000 listed Wagga Cup (2000m) will hold true on Friday with his progressive mare Grand Proposal.
Cleary tasted success in the famous country cup with Landlocked breaking through for a historic win last year, two weeks after saluting in the Murrumbidgee Cup (1800m).
Layt will follow the same path with Grand Proposal after a convincing win in the Murrumbidgee Cup on April 17 when the four-year-old bolted home by more than two lengths.
The ease of victory left Layt quietly confident of a strong run in the feature race.
"It was a pretty good win, she surprised me that she won so easily over the 1800, so she'll get the distance in the Cup," Layt said.
"She's going to a be lightweight chance - she's drawn horrible, barrier 17, as usual - but the young fella [jockey Brock Ryan] will just have to be a little positive and go a bit forward and then try and get her into a nice spot.
"Then we'll try and grab hold of her and ride her very quiet and midfield like he did in the Murrumbidgee."
Apprentice jockey Ryan has ridden the mare three times for two wins and a second, prompting Layt to stick with the youngster rather than chase one of many city jockeys coming to Wagga for the carnival.
It's a bold call in a race where apprentices cannot claim their weight allowance.
But Layt was undeterred.
"He's rode her the last three starts for two wins and a second, so I can't take him off now.
"He's only a raw kid but I remember putting a bloke called Tommy Berry on some of my horses when he was a raw kid too.
"You get these blokes out of Sydney sometimes and they're just here to ride for the sake of the ride, but Brock knows the filly, he knows her backwards and she seems to go good for him, so I'm not changing the combination.
"In the end they get to know the horse inside out, they know their little quirks - I'd rather take a punt and put him on. He can't do any worse than some of these top jockeys I've put on in the past."
The Hawkes-trained Messene heads the betting market from the Victorian-trained Adirondack and Chris Waller's Index Linked. Grand Proposal is currently a $15 chance to give Layt his first Wagga Cup.
