Trainer Tracey Bartley is confident he's found the right race for Slick Sniper to score his first win in Sydney for more than 18 months.Slick Sniper, winner of three of his past four starts in the country, is favoured to win the PJ Bell Country Championship (1400m) on Randwick's Kensington track.Bartley said the conditions of Monday's race - horses must have started in a minimum of four races with Country status in the past 12 months - suited the five-year-old gelding perfectly.A year younger th

Trainer Tracey Bartley is confident he's found the right race for Slick Sniper to score his first win in Sydney for more than 18 months.

Slick Sniper, winner of three of his past four starts in the country, is favoured to win the PJ Bell Country Championship (1400m) on Randwick's Kensington track.

Bartley said the conditions of Monday's race - horses must have started in a minimum of four races with Country status in the past 12 months - suited the five-year-old gelding perfectly.

A year younger than his three-time Group One-winning brother Sniper's Bullet, Slick Sniper won the Wauchope Cup (1500m) by 3-1/2 lengths carrying 58.5kg on a heavy track at Port Macquarie at his most recent start.

"He's right there ready to win," Bartley said of Slick Sniper.

"He's had a good preparation so far and I hope it continues on Monday. He's trained on well since his win at Port Macquarie the other day and I can't see why he won't be hard to beat again."

Slick Sniper's only success in Sydney so far was in a restricted no-metro wins race over 1300 metres at Warwick Farm in November 2008.

Bartley said the gelding's handicap rating of 89 meant he found it hard to win in town where he still had to carry big weights.

"But this race (on Monday) is a different scenario because they are all bush horses and he'll be right at home," the trainer said.

"I thought his win the other day was really good with a big weight. He missed the kick but got rolling and I thought he finished the race off really well."

His task has been made a little easier with the decision to run Canberra gelding Lebrechaun at Randwick on Saturday instead of waiting for the P J Bell.

The Matthew Dale-trained Lebrechaun duly won when he came with a late run to nail Tipoff.

Next month's South Grafton Cup (1600m) looms as Slick Sniper's target after Monday provided he races to expectations at Randwick.

"That's our plan and I think he might be perfectly placed in that sort of race," Bartley said.

"Speaking to his owners, I think we'll probably go straight into that race after this race. It will be a month between races but I reckon that will be good for him."

Apprentice Josh Adams, who had the biggest day of his career when he rode a winning treble at Randwick on May 29, will claim 3kg off Slick Sniper's 58kg impost.

"I think it's a must (to claim with an apprentice)," Bartley said.

"It just takes that little bit of weight off."

Bartley has also welcomed Sniper's Bullet back to the stable after a 10-week spell.

He is expected to resume in The Shorts (1100m) at Randwick in October while their three-year-old half-sister General's Sniper will leave the spelling paddock in a couple of weeks.'