A favourable report from leading bush jockey Greg Ryan has prompted trainer Jeff Brasch to test his stable pride and joy first-up at metropolitan stakes level on Saturday.
Ideal Position will line up in the $125,000 Southern Cross Stakes (1200 metres) at Warwick Farm on the back of some promising country barrier trial form and a previous liking for Sydney racing.
"We have been looking for a suitable race for him for quite some time, and recently Greg told me that he feels like he is in better condition than he was when he won at Rosehill last year," Brasch told AAP.
"That's a great indication that he is on track, and it's a tremendous advantage to have Greg ride him because he knows him so well."
Brasch said he had already mapped out an autumn campaign for Ideal Position and will use Saturday's Group Three race to see if he remains on track for a tilt at two lucrative out-of-town sprints next month.
"At this stage the plan is for him to have a run at National Sprint in Canberra on March 10, and then the Newmarket (Handicap) in Newcastle on March 20, but we will just have to see how he goes," he said.
Brasch, who juggled training duties with his role as a stud manager at Guntawang until December, says he is relishing being a full-time trainer with 18 horses in his stable, and can't wait for the challenge of racing at Warwick Farm.
"I'm very lucky to have great quality horses with very understanding owners, and a good team," he said.
"It is my first runner in a Group race, it's very exciting."