SYDNEY trainer David Pfieffer has confirmed Ghostly will return to defend his Wagga Town Plate crown on Thursday, but whether stablemate Laure Me In lines up in Friday's Wagga Gold Cup is a toss of the coin.
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Ghostly took advantage of Wagga's big track and a strong early race speed to win last year's 1200m feature by half a length from Sure We Can as an $8 chance.
Warwick Farm-based trainer Pfieffer is confident the six-year-old is ready to fire after finishing a solid fifth first-up on a heavy track at home on April 8.
"Ghostly is definitely running. He's in good order and his run was really nice the other day," Pfieffer said.
"He's on a track that suits him and he's one of those horses that needs a big track and a fast run race.
"He wants that criteria which is generally what he's going to get in the Town Plate."
The gelding has won five of 32 race starts and has amassed over $370,000 in prizemoney.
He will be ridden by Jay Ford after leading Riverina hoop Blaike McDougall was aboard for his win 12 months ago.
Pfieffer is seriously considering racing Laure Me In in the Gold Cup (2000m) on a quick back-up after his impressive narrow second at Rosehill on Saturday.
The five-year-old sprouted wings late to just fall short of hauling in Welsh Legend in a photo finish. Pfieffer is weighing up whether to race him at Wagga, or wait for the Gosford Cup on May 9.
While he hasn't won since January, 2018, Laure Me In has finished second in three of his last five starts and finally got conditions to his liking on ANZAC Day in his first career attempt over 2000 metres.
"He's a 50-50 chance of going (to Wagga). Obviously he raced on Saturday but he did go super, so it's definitely worth considering," Pfieffer said.
"I was confident the horse would go well, he's been screaming out for a dry track for six weeks and I've been tempted to try him up around the 2000m mark. It was good to see a positive run.
"He's in great form, he's healthy and happy at the moment but he just hasn't been suited on the wet tracks.
"Whether he races in Wagga is all going to come down to how he pulls up on Saturday."
Pfieffer said he was impressed by the quality of nominations considering prizemoney has been reduced and no crowds will be at the track due to coronavirus.
"It does look like there's a fair bit of depth in the noms," he said.
"It will be interesting to see who turns up but it's good to see the noms for the meeting given what we're going through at the moment, and it hasn't slowed down country racing too much."
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