Shane Fliedner may be persuaded to bring Primitive Man back to the city for another run before the horse goes for a break.

His city debut at Moonee Valley was quite impressive; he was locked away on the fence for much of the Aquanas Handicap won by Meliora.

Once he got a clear passage in the straight he finished gamely, there was a lot of merit in the run, he shows quite a bit of promise and worth keeping in mind for a similar type of race.

Philippi is back in work with Michael Kent, he is doing everything asked of him for a return to racing, scheduled for the middle of next month.

Kent pulled the right rein when he aborted any thoughts of a Derby start, never a wise move on one preparation, it has been done previously but later regretted.

The present mission for the colt is the Australian Guineas, the mile at Flemington will suit him, he has been there before and knows what it is all about.

Philippi is by Host, he is a colt with loads of potential remaining unbeaten, he is entitled to be rated the best three year old colt in Victoria

Mark Riley was disappointed with the run of I’m Too Sexy in the Group3 B J McLachlan Stakes on the Gold Coast, after being prominent on the home turn but wide out, she lost ground from there on, she petered out to run second last.

The only excuse to be found, she was feeling the harder ground, she will now spend some time on the water walker, hoping the problem for her failure can be found.

She jarred up quite a bit, the water walker will no doubt ease the immediate problem, but if there is no give in the track it won’t assist her.

Hanging Rock was again the popular racing venue on New Year’s Day; while official numbers are not yet available the crowd is thought to be in the vicinity of 5,000 to 5500 people enjoying a great day out.

The club have just the two dates New Year’s Day, and Australia Day, the feature race being the Hanging Cup over 1800 metres and a stake of $15,000.

Clevadude, the unbeaten male two year old, leaves Melbourne next Tuesday for the Gold Coast for his prime mission, the Magic Millions two year old classic.

He has continued to please Rick Hore-Lacy, he declares the gelding spot on for his major assignment, he is sharing favouritism with Assail at $3.80.

Villa Verde, a winner at her only two starts, then spelled when the grass was at its prime, returns to the stable of Shaun Dwyer to commence her preparation for the road ahead that will hopefully lead her into the Golden Slipper Stakes.

Just the one pre run the in the Reisling Slipper, which was dubbed, by racing writers of the day, as the “Cinderella’s Slipper. She had 13 starts as a two year old, winning eight times.