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By Ray Hickson

It’s a decent trip from Ballina to Sydney so trainer Ethan Ensby doesn’t travel south without good reason and he’s found one and that’s to discover where unbeaten three-year-old Maximum Vortex stands.

Ensby, 28, has only had one previous Highway runner and it’ll be just his third trip to town with a horse when the Kuroshio gelding tackles the TAB Highway (1100m) at Rosehill on Saturday.

He’s had the race in mind for about a month since Maximum Vortex made it two from two with an easy Class 1 win at Grafton back on April 30.

“He’s very untapped, he’s won two races at Grafton by large margins albeit in country boosted races,’’ Ensby said.

“I haven’t got to the bottom of him and I think we’re yet to find out. He’s a bit of an unknown but while he keeps winning we will keep pointing him towards the winning post.

“We found this race a few weeks back and thought we’d aim up here.”

Described as a ‘mess’ when he arrived at Ensby’s stable, Maximum Vortex didn’t fill the trainer with enthusiasm in the early stages.

Maximum Vortex wins at Grafton on April 30

He battled a few injury issues early on and isn’t a horse that sets the track on fire in the early hours but once he stepped out for his first barrier trial the lights came on and he hasn’t looked back.

“There was a point where I didn’t think he was actually going to make it,’’ he said.

“I thought his career was going to be cut short but we’ve managed him through and thankfully we’ve ironed out all the issues and he’s sound as a bell.

“He’s a bit surprising because in his jump outs and work at home he’s only very so-so but he just turns up on race day.

“We expected a forward showing at his first start but didn’t expect him to win by five and a half hard held.”

Cejay Graham has partnered Maximum Vortex, $4 with TAB on Friday, in both his starts and reported to Ensby he’s had plenty left in the locker as he’s gapped his rivals.

Ensby suspects the just under two length margin of his second win is due to the race being an afterthought and he went into it without a “proper gallop”.

The gelding has worked to his trainer’s liking this week and while he was beaten in a jump out last Friday he heads to Sydney confident he can be competitive.

Brett Prebble has the ride and Ensby said he’ll tell the jockey not to overcomplicate things as the horse is sharp and he hopes he can offset a wide barrier quickly.

“You’ve got to be concerned from the gate but when you’ve got a good rider and a horse with gate speed you’d have to think you’re some sort of hope,’’ he said.

And the horse that beat Maximum Vortex, by a length and a half, in the jump out? Echo Sunshine goes around in a Benchmark 58 at Murwillimbah on Sunday.

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