Trainer Leon Macdonald and jockey Chad Schofield combined for big-race glory during the autumn and they will reunite at Flemington in search of another stakes-race success.

Only this time it is a brother to the Group One-winning filly Go Indy Go who will carry their hopes.

Schofield rides Essay Raider for the first time in Saturday's Listed Straight Six (1200m) having won the Group One Champagne Stakes on the gelding's younger sister and stablemate Go Indy Go in Sydney last month.

As much as $12 was offered about Essay Raider in the opening market for Saturday's sprint but that quote has almost halved to $6.50.

Macdonald admitted he expected a lot more from Essay Raider in the Group One Goodwood in Adelaide last start when he finished worse than midfield.

The four-year-old went into Adelaide's premier sprint, run on a slow track, after a convincing three-length win in the Group Three McKay Stakes.

"I was disappointed in his run," Macdonald said.

"The jockey (Jason Holder) blamed the track, he reckoned it was a bit gluey where he was and he wasn't handling it.

"But having said all that I still thought he would go better than he did."

Essay Raider has given the trainer no reason to think he can't bounce back to his best at Flemington but Macdonald admitted an inside draw might not be ideal.

"The horse's work has been very good since The Goodwood. He's got every chance to bounce back," he said.

Essay Raider has raced twice on the straight 1200-metre course, finishing midfield in last spring's Yellowglen Stakes and second in the Standish Handicap on January 1.

"I've got no fears about the straight track for him," Macdonald said.

"I would have just liked to have seen him draw a bit better than down on the inside."

Essay Raider is still entered for the Stradbroke Handicap in Queensland but Macdonald said the chances of the horse running there were minimal.

"The horse is well and it's very hard to say whether we'll go on after this," Macdonald said.