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By Ray Hickson

They aren’t the A-graders just yet but co-trainer Michael Freedman is hoping to get a guide on where Inglis Millennium winner Prime Star might sit in the three-year-old pecking order at Rosehill on Saturday.

Trainer Michael Freedman (Pic: Bradley Photos).

The likes of Group 1 winning colts Farnan, King’s Legacy and Rothfire aren’t present in the Listed $140,000 Schweppes Rosebud (1100m) but there are some smart youngsters taking a first step towards a possible Golden Rose to overcome.

Freedman said Prime Star is a horse with talent, he broke his maiden in a $2 million race, and suspects he can be more competitive than his $26 quote with TAB might suggest.

“It’s a little difficult to say, I wouldn’t rule him out of being able to match it with some of the better three-year-olds but to what level it’s a bit of a guessing game at the moment,’’ Freedman said.

“If he can stretch out to 1400m or maybe a mile it opens up options for him as well. Whether he is up to the very best of them time will tell.

“If he could put in a good performance to suggest he can match it with some of the better ones we can map a path for him.”

What Prime Star has in his favour is that Inglis Millennium win came on a very heavy track.

Exactly what sort of surface participants have to deal with at Rosehill won’t be known until race day, obviously, but we do know it will be wet to some degree.

Richard and Michael Freedman elected to tackle the Rosebud in preference to a 1200m benchmark race given that the conditions would likely make the longer race that much tougher at the end of day.

“I figured given he is going to be first-up and the likelihood of going onto some sort of heavy surface the 1100m was a touch more suitable even though the other race looked a bit easier on paper,’’ he said.

“The Millennium day was a very heavy track and he managed to get through that. First-up it’s not ideal but that’s going to be the case for half the field anyway.

“I’m hoping the wet track offsets the barrier a bit too.”

Freedman believes Prime Star has improved since his spell, where he had to have a chip removed from a joint, and now it’s up to the horse to show it.

“I think he’s coming up well, he put in a nice trial the first time out and on the polytrack the other day he wasn’t knocked around,’’ he said.

“He’s not a taller horse but he has filled out in all the right places. He’s had a long steady build up to start racing in the new season.’’

Prime Star wins the Inglis Millennium in February

Stablemate Outback Diva has a chance to bounce back into the winner’s stall in the De Bortoli Wines Handicap (1200m) and Freedman has an air of confidence about her prospects.

The mare, $4.60 with TAB, has produced a strong finish in all four runs this time in, winning second-up over the same course in June, but a favourable draw might see her not concede such a start as she did two weeks ago.

She clocked a race best last 600m of 34.72 (Punter's Intelligence) in running sixth behind Poetic Charmer.

“She hasn’t had much luck her last two runs really. She got a long way back from an awkward draw last start and had too much ground to make up,’’ he said.

“I think that race potentially sets up quite well for her. She doesn’t necessarily need to be back at the tail of the field, she’s ended up back there more out of where she’s drawn than anything so she might be able to race a touch handier than she has been.”

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