After a comfortable last-start win at the track and distance, Troy Portelli is hoping bargain buy Cyndiana Star continues on her winning way at Flemington on Saturday.But if weight of money is anything to go by, she will face a tough challenge from the Robert Smerdon stable with debutant Breitling the subject of a nationwide betting plunge.Cyndiana Star relished the Flemington straight last start when leading all the way to beat a handy field of off-season two-year-olds and Portelli sees little

After a comfortable last-start win at the track and distance, Troy Portelli is hoping bargain buy Cyndiana Star continues on her winning way at Flemington on Saturday.

But if weight of money is anything to go by, she will face a tough challenge from the Robert Smerdon stable with debutant Breitling the subject of a nationwide betting plunge.

Cyndiana Star relished the Flemington straight last start when leading all the way to beat a handy field of off-season two-year-olds and Portelli sees little reason why the filly can't produce a repeat performance this week in Thebigscreencompany Plate (1000m).

"She's going well, her work has been good and you'd think she'd be a good chance again," he said.

While the majority of the progeny of her sire Johannesburg handle soft conditions, Portelli admitted he was a little nervous going into Cyndiana Star's latest race after a poor run at Sandown in May.

"We were a bit worried after she failed at Sandown on a heavy track but there was a two-point difference in the penetrometer readings between that day and Flemington and it obviously made a difference," he said.

With similar conditions predicted on Saturday, Portelli is confident Cyndiana Star can continue on an upward spiral and push the investment of her connections further into the black.

"The group of guys that bought her are based in Hong Kong and usually buy colts or geldings to race up there but they decided to buy a nice filly to race and she was a beauty for $20,000," Portelli said.

"We're just trying to recoup as much as we can as early as possible and she isn't letting us down so far.

"She's only small, a little sprinting filly, and she won't grow much.

"She might improve next time around if she learns to settle better because at the moment she's just running on fear. She just hears other horses and takes off."

Although Portelli remains conservative about the heights that Cyndiana Star may scale during her career, an avalanche of money suggests that first starter Breitling may be well-above average and destined to make his name during the spring carnival later this year.

TAB Fixed Odds markets were crunched late on Thursday night when Breitling was backed from $10 in to $2.90 on the back of strong reports from Caulfield trackwork.

The son of Lonhro remains a solid favourite for Saturday's race and has been backed in to as short as $2.40 for his racetrack debut.