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By Ray Hickson

He’s raced himself out of Midway company for now so trainer Kerry Parker is hopeful Tampering can begin working his way up the ladder at Hawkesbury on Wednesday.

Trainer Kerry Parker (Pic: Bradley Photos).

The five-year-old has won three Midway races, something no other horse has managed to achieve in the concept’s short history, and on the back of a dominant first-up win Parker believes the only way is up.

Tampering went into his fresh win at Rosehill without a public trial so he’ll naturally take improvement into the Lander Toyota Handicap (1500m).

“That was his trial at Rosehill. He was ready to trial three or four weeks before it so he’d had a good grounding into it,’’ Parker said.

“He ended up with a soft run and all he had to do was find the line. So it worked perfectly for him.

“In those real heavy tracks he bogs down a bit, he’s a big horse and hits the ground hard, but he did get first preference on it before the main rain hit.”

It’d be a stretch for anyone to expect Tampering to reach the heights of his Queen Elizabeth Stakes winning stablemate Think It Over but he is a consistent horse and Parker said he'd like to see him graduate to Saturday races this time in.

Last preparation he backed up a first-up win over 1400m with his first Midway success at a mile so stepping up to 1500m will suit and Tom Sherry reduces his impost to 60kg, up just 0.5kg on his latest win.

“We’ll have to take him each run as it comes,’’ Parker said.

“I try to place him, he’s got to take that next step now into more open grade and I’m hoping there’s some nice Saturday races he can step up to.

“He’ll carry a bit of beef, the same as he did in the Midway but it’s good with the carnival on there’s a 78 at Hawkesbury he can go around in.”

Meanwhile, Queen Elizabeth Stakes champ Think It Over is off for a well earned rest after his stunning upset last weekend and Parker said he’ll look to the spring with a probable Cox Plate preparation on the cards.

Parker is adamant despite the heavy track win that Think It Over is at his best on firmer footing.

“He had a nice little swim this morning and he’s fine, he’s going to the paddock now to help him recover,’’ he said.

“I still think he’s not as good on the heavy but he was able to find a bit better ground so he was able to keep that stride in his action.

"There were horses that handled it that don’t handle it and a lot of wet trackers didn’t handle it.”

Tampering wins at Rosehill on March 26

The paddock also beckons for Hope In Your Heart following her unplaced run in the Australian Oaks and Parker said she’s more than done her job for the autumn which was highlighted by a Group 3 placing in the Kembla Grange Classic.

“Last preparation she won a race at Moruya and Goulburn, to come back this prep to get that black type she’s had a terrific prep,’’ he said.

“She did get our hopes up a little bit at the 300m to think she was going to sneak up the inside but jumping from 1850m to 2400m probably told.”

All the fields, form and replays for Wednesday's Hawkesbury meeting