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By Ray Hickson

Trainer Tim Martin describes the recently gelded Danawi’s occupation now as ‘racehorse’ and he’s hoping the three-year-old gets straight to work at Rosehill on Saturday.

It’s been an effective gear change for the likes of this month’s Group 1 winners Trekking and Mr Quickie as well as in-form three-year-olds Kolding and Quackerjack who have turned themselves around as geldings.

None of those horses managed to win a Group 3 race by start four so Martin knows he has a horse with the talent, it’s now up to Danawi to show the same drive as his peers.

They don’t come much better bred than Danawi, being by Martin’s former champion sprinter Exceed And Excel from dual Group 1 winner Secret Admirer.

“They’ve got to have better records than he has to be a stallion prospect. It wasn’t a hard decision to make,’’ Martin said.

“He was under-performing and his occupation is a racehorse now.

“He was always a handful, can be a bit hard to ride at times. Hugh Bowman fell off him one day at Canterbury behind the barriers.

Danawi runs second in a trial at Rosehill on June 7

“He’d go too hard if you led on him, we rode him quiet in the Inglis race in February and once he got up behind them he pulled up. He’s much easier to manage and he can focus on racing now.’’

Respect for Danawi’s form as a colt – he ran second on debut to The Autumn Sun and was also runner-up to Military Zone and Master Ash before his Group 3 Ming Dynasty win over Mizzy – has him kept safe at $6.50 with TAB in #TheRaces Handicap (1200m).

So, after performing to his liking in two trials, what is Martin expecting from the new-look Danawi?

“If he doesn’t run in the placings I’d be disappointed,’’ he said.

“If he puts his best foot forward and tries in his races I know he can do a lot better than his record says.

“He will keep improving but he is ready to perform well, his trackwork and trials are good and if he does the right things in transit he will be right in the finish.’’

Expect Mapmaker to take up a forward position in the Everest Carnival On Sale Handicap (1300m) after going back didn’t work out so well two weeks ago.

The seven-year-old does have a penchant for his home track – all three of his city wins have been at Rosehill – and he’s also on the safe side in the market at $15 behind hot favourite Kapajack, but has seven lengths to make up from their meeting on June 1.

“We’ll have to go forward from that barrier. He loves Rosehill and he’s the same as Danawi, if he gets the right run in transit he will run well,’’ Martin said.

“He doesn’t like racing in among horses, he prefers to be out there and rolling so that’s what I’ll be telling Sam (Clenton) to do.’’

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