In-form pair settle for Rough at Caulfield

Monday 21 December 2015, 5:36pm

It's doubtful there is a more in-form Victorian stable than that of Mathew Ellerton and Simon Zahra.

Of their last 50 runners they have returned home with 17 winners, a strike rate of 34 per cent.

After a quiet spring campaign for the pair, the past month has been extraordinary and they head to the Boxing Day meeting at Caulfield with nine nominations on the 10 race card.

They have Rough Justice among the 24 entries the Listed Christmas Stakes (1200m).

Rough Justice was scheduled to run at Saturday's abandoned Flemington meeting over the straight 1000m course.

The son of Wanted returned a winner over 955m at Moonee Valley on November 20 and had a trip to Werribee for a jump-out last Monday.

"We took him to Werribee for a jump-out just for a bit of a sweat and something a bit different," Zahra said.

"He can be a bit lazy on the track so we were trying to switch him back on.

"At home he's very laid back but come race day he's a different horse."

Zahra expects there will be improvement to come from Rough Justice describing him as "fat" before his first-up outing.

He said Saturday's race would bring him on even further, especially with the Werribee jump-out under the belt.

Rough Justice has been a model of consistency throughout his 15-start career.

A winner of four races he has filled a placing on another eight occasions and hasn't finished further back than fifth, earning connections more $325,000 prize money.

The two-year-old race, added to the meeting following the Flemington cancellation, has 21 nominations including Atlantic Express, Climate, Hell Of An Effort, Hellbound, Lucky Beau, One Blink, Ponte Roma and Violate.

– AAP

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