Caulfield raid planned for Wagga victor Jarbardar

Trainer Craig Widdison from the border region anticipates that prior racing success will aid Jarbardar in his Caulfield appearance.

Securing a debut triumph at Wagga a month ago, the two-year-old gelding is primed for the Sportsbet Feed Handicap (1100m) this Saturday.

The handler also nominated the youngster for the Group 3 David Coles AM Stakes (1200m) at Morphettville on the same day, though Caulfield was the favoured option.

"The better draw and shorter trip certainly made up our mind, but the preference was Caulfield all along," Widdison said.

"With a two-year-old, it's a long way to go from here in Wodonga and the barrier made the decision pretty easy for us."

For his initial outing, Jarbardar journeyed from Wodonga to Wagga, entering the race as the firm $1.35 market leader.

The trainer expressed no astonishment at the strong market faith in the gelding.

"He's done everything right and he's a nice quality of horse and his trial at Corowa was really good beforehand," Widdison said.

"He ran faster time than the open trial that day.

He was still very new doing it all, but the time was there and we thought he would be pretty hard to beat at Wagga."

Despite having two right-handed track experiences out of three public runs, Widdison affirmed the gelding's familiarity with left-handed turns.

With Wodonga as home base, the majority of his preparation has been on left-handed tracks, yet he manages both effectively.

The trainer plans to assess Jarbardar further post-Saturday, considering him on par with the best youngsters trained since relocating to Wodonga back in 2016.

"He shows great ability here, as much as any young horse I've had up here, and now he's got to take that step to city grade," Widdison said.

"We'll learn a lot more about him after Saturday as there has been a fair few that have trialled well.

It's always hard when you go down the line, but he's exciting for us, anyway."

Jarbardar sticks with jockey Jason Lyon, who partnered him to the debut score.

The rider infrequently heads to the city, recording only 10 metro mounts in five years, each at long odds of $31 or more.

Still, Widdison values Lyon's familiarity with the stable and the gelding's Wagga effort.

"Going down there, it's nice to have someone on that knows the horse," Widdison said.

"He can be a bit of lad, the horse, so any little help is a bonus."

The gelding is the $7 second pick, trailing debutante Natural Fling at $2.40 from Tony and Calvin McEvoy's stable.

Discover the best Australian betting sites offering odds for the Sportsbet Feed Handicap at Caulfield.