Rain may have fallen in time for some of the Kiwi and interstate invaders for the Listed Caloundra Cup but trainer Bruce Hill still remains hopeful of a Queensland victory with Warrior Within.New Zealanders Tinseltown and Indikator both failed on a hard track in last month's Group Two Brisbane Cup while trainer Gerald Ryan believes a wet track will suit Sydney visitor Ironstein at his Queensland debut.Caloundra was downgraded on Thursday to a slow track following recent rain which is expected to

Rain may have fallen in time for some of the Kiwi and interstate invaders for the Listed Caloundra Cup but trainer Bruce Hill still remains hopeful of a Queensland victory with Warrior Within.

New Zealanders Tinseltown and Indikator both failed on a hard track in last month's Group Two Brisbane Cup while trainer Gerald Ryan believes a wet track will suit Sydney visitor Ironstein at his Queensland debut.

Caloundra was downgraded on Thursday to a slow track following recent rain which is expected to boost the chances of the two Kiwi raiders and some of their compatriots.

Hill was not surprised with Warrior Within's last-start effort to finish third to Our Lukas in the Listed Ipswich Cup (2150m) and is confident the four-year-old can handle the step up in distance in Saturday's $200,000 2400-metre feature.

Queensland-trained horses ended the winter carnival winning only eight of the 30 Group races with Gold Coast sprinter Albert The Fat claiming the only local Group One success in the BTC Cup at Doomben in May.

Interestingly, of the eight Group winners all bar the Eagle Farm-trained Tabulate who won the Group Three Premier's Cup at Doomben in May were prepared at the Gold Coast.

Although the Caloundra Cup is only a Listed race, a local victory would be welcomed by the Queensland training fraternity.

Hill has always had a good opinion of Warrior Within since the day he bought him at the Gold Coast Breeze-Up sales.

"He had a good pedigree and his mother is by Volksraad who produces good staying types," Hill said.

"I'm not worried about the track condition. He's very adaptable and has won on good, slow, heavy and even on the cushion track.

"The track is slow now and that hopefully might eliminate some of the others."

Hill has booked former Kiwi jockey Michael Walker to partner Warrior Within with the gelding's Ipswich Cup rider Paul Hammersley suspended.

"I thought he would run a super race at Ipswich and he did," Hill said.

"He's always had a stack of ability but it's taken time for him to get things right.

"He used to pull in his races and wouldn't settle but I kept persevering.

"He's always raced back in the field like he did in the Ipswich Cup but he's never learned to relax properly until now."

Hill believes Warrior Within's form turned for the better with maturity.

"He's grown up a bit now, especially mentally," he said.

"His Ipswich Cup run wasn't a fluke but he's still got to run 2400 metres like most of the others and I'm confident he will."

Trainer Rob Heathcote believes Our Lukas faces a daunting task to repeat his Ipswich Cup win.

Our Lukas won last year's Ipswich Cup and then carried 56 kilograms when he failed on a heavy track two weeks later in the Caloundra Cup.

The six-year-old has two kilograms more this year and although the track is only rated slow, Heathcote is worried.

"He's got a monumental task with 58 kilos over 2400 metres," Heathcote said.

"I'm not worried he's jumping from barrier 20 as he won from a wide gate at Ipswich and he prefers to be out wide.

"On a positive note, I feel he's taken a lot of benefit from Ipswich as that was his first run past 1600 metres this campaign."