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By Ray Hickson

Last time he set foot on Randwick, Not Feint Hearted made a mess of what trainer Gary Portelli says is inferior opposition to what he faces on Saturday.

That race was two weeks ago and while the margin was over five lengths, and the runner-up Badoosh has since won, Portelli is cautious about the four-year-old offering up a repeat performance in the Heineken Handicap (1400m).

On the ‘con’ side is a rise in class but on the ‘pro’ side Portelli said the gelding is humming at home.

“Without taking away from that opposition I think this weekend is a lot stronger race,’’ Portelli said.

“It was exciting to see him win like that but he is going to have to step up again. We’re certainly not going into it as confident as we were last time, as far as the class rise, but he’s come on physically.

“His fitness and his trackwork on Tuesday was as good as you want to see so he certainly goes to the race at his peak.”

Not Feint Hearted’s last start win, which earned him TAB favouritism at $4.20, was his first since he debuted with a victory on a heavy track at Warwick Farm nine starts earlier.

Kathy O’Hara, who rides again on Saturday, allowed the gelding to stride into the race before the turn and Portelli said he can only hope the win was a true indication of the horse’s ability and this race pans out similarly.

He dashed between the 600m and 400m in 11.67 and ran easily the fastest last 600m of the 1300m Benchmark 72 race, 36.98 (Punter's Intelligence) which was two and a half lengths faster than the next best.

Not Feint Hearted wins at Randwick on August 1

“I’d like to see him settle off the speed again where he is comfortable and hopefully he can go through his gears like the did the other day,’’ he said.

“I’m not sure whether that was a situation where he had plenty on them and he’s going places. Or whether it was one of those days where the others didn’t fire and he looked good because he was the only one that handled it.

“The advantage of the late race is we might be able to see the pattern as to where we have to be.

“You can ride him forward if you want, you can be wherever you want on him. We can be aggressive if we want or negative if we need to get to the outside.''

Cautious could also describe Portelli’s thoughts about Single Bullet’s prospects against hype horse Masked Crusader in the Schweppes Handicap (1100m).

He’s elected not to claim so O’Hara rides the gelding at 60.5kg, 5.5kg more than the favourite, but was encouraged by Single Bullet’s narrow first-up defeat to Inanup two weeks ago.

“I don’t think he is really an apprentice's horse, I’m hoping after the race I can say it was a good ride and lucky I didn’t (claim),’’ he said.

“He’s fitter and I suppose when you look at the favourite getting a lot of weight off us it’s a worry.”

It’s fair to say Single Bullet, $16 with TAB, has been a bit hit and miss in his career, especially where wet tracks have been concerned.

“He gave up on the turn in the (2017) Slipper and he was odds-on when he was beaten at Warwick Farm one time as a two-year-old on a bog track,’’ Portelli said.

“I went to the races hoping to see him race well and he jumped out of the ground. His trial before that was enormous on the heavy and he just took to the races.

“His work on Tuesday was sharp again so I expect him to run well, his fitness will be there and that will take him a long way.”

All the fields, form and replays for Saturday's Randwick meeting