EXPRESS COUP (5) is a tough mare who revels in wet ground over her pet trip of 1200m. She showed a good turn of foot on testing ground at Asburton 17 days ago when scoring by nearly a length. She steps up in grade here, but drops 4kg in weight, and can win again. MASTER MARKO (3) is a quality gelding who has won his only start on this track. He resumes from a spell and usually needs a run, but his class can carry him a long way, especially with the aid of a 2kg claim. KING OF THE CASTLE (2) did not quite run up to expectations last prep, but is a very handy gelding on his day. He is nicely weighted after a 3kg claim, and should not be underestimated. VICTOR ROUGE (8) has been placed in both of his starts here, and he can make full use of the pole position. He is fit, and is probably at his best over 1200m. Don't risk him. RIVIERA REBEL (1) is better known over more ground, but is fresh up, and is too good to leave out.