Trainer Tracey Bartley will have an anxious couple of days waiting to hear if Blake Shinn is available to ride Sniper's Bullet at Flemington on Saturday.Shinn will lodge an appeal on Monday against the severity of a suspension which would keep him out of Saturday's meeting where Sniper's Bullet will contest the Group Three Chatham Handicap (1400m) as a lead up to the Group One Emirates Stakes (1600m) at week later.Shinn rode Sniper's Bullet at his most recent start when he finished fifth to the

Trainer Tracey Bartley will have an anxious couple of days waiting to hear if Blake Shinn is available to ride Sniper's Bullet at Flemington on Saturday.

Shinn will lodge an appeal on Monday against the severity of a suspension which would keep him out of Saturday's meeting where Sniper's Bullet will contest the Group Three Chatham Handicap (1400m) as a lead up to the Group One Emirates Stakes (1600m) at week later.

Shinn rode Sniper's Bullet at his most recent start when he finished fifth to the Gai Waterhouse-trained Royal Discretion in the Group Three Jayco Cup at Caulfield on October 18.

"Sniper's is running in a Group Three 1400-metre race on Saturday and I'm hoping to have Blake on board, he's keen to stick with us and obviously I'm keen to have him," Bartley said.

Bartley, who is based at Dubbo in western NSW, has no doubts last year's Stradbroke Handicap winner will be spot-on for that race.

"His run in the Jayco was outstanding and I don't think I could possibly be happier with him and where he's at," Bartley said.

"By the time the Emirates comes around he'll be smoking a pipe - he's just travelling that good.

"He probably should have been three lengths closer in the Jayco, he got on the back of El Cambio but he was gone at the half mile (800m) and that cost us.

"He also copped a slight bit of interference near the start, so when you look at all of this things it was a terrific performance."

Sniper's Bullet was racing first-up from a spell in the Jayco Cup and he boasts an impressive second-up record with two wins from three starts.

"That race the other day was only his fifth gallop since returning, so it was a very encouraging run," Bartley said.

The Emirates Stakes has been a long time aim for Sniper's Bullet who missed the race last year due to movement restrictions in place because of the outbreak of equine influenza in NSW and Queensland.