Spechenka's Christmas Cup hopes have been boosted with the in-form Queensland stayer coping well with the trip ahead of his first interstate assignment.Trainer Ben Ahrens was concerned how Spechenka would handle the long journey from Beaudesert, but after travelling through the night on Thursday the gelding arrived at Wyong on NSW's central coast with no problems.Spechenka, a $5 chance in the Listed Christmas Cup (2400m), will spearhead a handy Queensland contingent at the Rosehill meeting with
Spechenka's Christmas Cup hopes have been boosted with the in-form Queensland stayer coping well with the trip ahead of his first interstate assignment.
Trainer Ben Ahrens was concerned how Spechenka would handle the long journey from Beaudesert, but after travelling through the night on Thursday the gelding arrived at Wyong on NSW's central coast with no problems.
Spechenka, a $5 chance in the Listed Christmas Cup (2400m), will spearhead a handy Queensland contingent at the Rosehill meeting with five runners trained in the north set to compete during the eight race card.
"He was pretty good, he didn't have any issues in the float so he probably travelled a bit better than what we expected," Ahrens said.
"It was just one more thing we had to tick off.
"He's never been a real bad traveller but sometimes he can get a bit fizzy and waste a bit of energy on his way to the races, so we were a little bit concerned.
"But we were pretty happy the way things went last night."
Ahrens elected to stable Spechenka at Wyong and then make the drive to Rosehill on race morning believing it would be more beneficial to his Christmas Cup hopes.
"At home he doesn't like being cooped up in a box all the time, we train him out of a paddock, so we looked for somewhere as similar to home as possible," Ahrens said.
Three straight wins in Brisbane, including a last start two length victory in a 2200m Eagle Farm Open Handicap, was enough for Spechenka to book his Christmas Cup berth.
His performance will determine whether he also returns for the Summer Cup (2400m) at Randwick on Boxing Day.
Ahrens, who has never set foot on Rosehill and will be having his first Sydney runner, believes the five-year-old won't be out of place against Sydney's summer stayers.
"He couldn't have done much more than what he has done in his last three races," the trainer said.
"He's been assisted by a good tempo and that's probably my biggest concern tomorrow, how genuine the speed is going to be.
"I don't think it's a quantum leap for him. The form down here maybe just has a bit more class to it but what he has been meeting in Brisbane, he's been beating quite easily.
"I think he's definitely up to the challenge, it's just how the race is run that concerns me most at the moment."
The Chris Waller-trained Strike One is the one punters have latched onto in the Christmas Cup since the final field was declared on Wednesday.
Strike One opened equal favourite with Rock Kingdom at $3.20 on TAB Sportsbet but he was quickly into $3 outright favourite.
Further support on Friday had him at $2.70.
The seven-year-old is backing up after his second over 2000 metres to stablemate Beijing Boy at Rosehill last Saturday.
Group One winner Rock Kingdom, a last start second in the Listed Canberra Cup, is second favourite at $3.60 with Spechenka next in line.