Sidestep appears to have drawn a perfect gate in Saturday’s Group 1 $750,000 Winterbottom Stakes (1200m) in Perth. The Godolphin-owned and John O’Shea-trained sprinter will start from barrier two with champion rider Nash Rawiller on-board, yet O’Shea is a little apprehensive.

“I’ll tell you after the race if it’s an ideal gate or not,” O’Shea told Racing Network on Thursday.

“He’s blinkers first time, and sometimes they can dwell and miss the start and if he does that he could be in awful trouble from the gate,” he explained.

“If he begins well then it should be a really good barrier.

"I’ll leave that up to Nash to negotiate,” O’Shea added.

Sidestep heads into the Group 1 on Saturday off the back of a four-length eighth in the Group 1 $1 million Darley Classic (1200m) at Flemington behind Terravista, on the last day of the Melbourne Cup Carnival.

“The horse is in really good order, travelled over really well and he’s ready to run,” O’Shea explained.

In latest fixed-odds markets Sidestep is considered a  $7 chance behind fellow eastern-states raiders Angelic Light($2.80 fav) and Moment Of Change ($4).