John O'Shea has no doubt Reigning To Win can beat Epsom Handicap favourite Raheeb at Randwick on Saturday and history shows the trainer's confidence is well-founded."When Reigning To Win is at his best he has the wood on Raheeb and I think he's right in this race after a solid preparation," O'Shea said.Last year, Reigning To Win defeated Raheeb in a 1400m Listed raced at Eagle Farm and a couple of weeks later beat him again in the Group Three Doomben Classic (1615m).O'Shea warned Reigning To Win
John O'Shea has no doubt Reigning To Win can beat Epsom Handicap favourite Raheeb at Randwick on Saturday and history shows the trainer's confidence is well-founded.
"When Reigning To Win is at his best he has the wood on Raheeb and I think he's right in this race after a solid preparation," O'Shea said.
Last year, Reigning To Win defeated Raheeb in a 1400m Listed raced at Eagle Farm and a couple of weeks later beat him again in the Group Three Doomben Classic (1615m).
O'Shea warned Reigning To Win has improved massively since his last clash with Raheeb and believes the five-year-old is ready to produce his best in the $600,000 Group One race.
With last year's Epsom cancelled because of the equine influenza outbreak, O'Shea is going for consecutive victories in the famous mile after injured star Racing To Win scored in 2006.
Raheeb is the TAB Sportsbet $4 favourite for the Epsom and comes into the race off a dominant win in the Group Three Cameron Handicap (1400m) at Newcastle on September 17.
Reigning To Win, who is rated an $11 chance, ran fourth in the Cameron but carried 4.5kg more than Raheeb and had a minor setback going into the race.
On Saturday, Reigning To has 54kg while Raheeb carries 52.5kg.
"He had a foot abscess going into the Cameron and meets him (Raheeb) better in the weights, so I was always expecting heaps of improvement from that run," O'Shea said.
"He's drawn awkwardly in barrier two because he does his best work when he's ridden quietly but that's what Hugh (Bowman) gets paid for," O'Shea said.
"Raheeb has been racing well and we'll need to be at the top of our game to win the race but Reigning To Win is showing every sign he's up to it."
Bowman has no concerns about the barrier draw.
"If anything, I think it's a dream draw for him," Bowman said.
"I haven't been riding the horse's work but John tells me he's going very well and he's a horse with the type of finishing burst to win these big races.
"It's just a matter of looking after him in the run and then presenting him nicely in the straight and he'll do the rest."