Leading Brisbane trainer Tony Gollan has declared Palladas as his best winning chance at Doomben on Saturday, insisting the four-year-old gelding has the right groundings this preparation to fire fourth-up over 1350m in a Class 3 Plate.
The son of I Am Invincible has only won the two races from 17 starts, but he comes into tomorrow's race from consecutive second-placings in tougher grade.
Eligible for a Class 2, Palladas has been beaten by three-quarters of a length in each of his past two starts, running second to The Ritz in Class 4 company on January 8 before finishing behind Roman Aureus at this track and distance in a Class 6 on January 22.
Jim Byrne will retain the ride on Palladas this Saturday having replaced Ryan Maloney at his most recent outing, with the pair set to jump from barrier four.
“I think he's been dying to draw this good gate which he has on Saturday, and Jimmy Byrne will give him the perfect run,” Gollan said in his weekly stable video, The Final Gallop.
“He will be very hard to beat.
“He worked super on Tuesday morning. His regular rider, Glenn Courtney, galloped him on Tuesday, and he was taken aback how well he's done.
“He's done really well – he's nice and fit up in his prep now and he's in great shape.”
While Palladas was competitive in some two-year-old races, it took him until his three-year-old season to break through, winning his maiden at Ipswich over 1350m in October 2020.
He went on to win at Eagle Farm two months in December, saluting by 2.75 lengths when a heavily backed commodity.
“As a young two-year-old, we quite liked him then, but it was all a bit early for him,” Gollan said.
“He's always been a beautiful horse.
“He can look after himself a little bit, which he has done in some races, but he's a lovely animal to deal with.”
Palladas has already been well supported since markets went up for tomorrow's race, firming from +170 into +140 with Bovada.
The gelding is the outright favourite ahead of stablemate Glitter Strip (+360) and the Maryann Brosnan-trained Garoppolo (+650).