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The Wagga Gold Cup Carnival commences on Thursday with the Day 1 feature the $100,000 Town Plate.

A capacity field contests the XXXX Gold 2016 Wagga Town Plate (1200m) however looking at how noticeably the weights are compressed, the class horses at the top of the weights seemingly have the race in their keeping.

The Paul Murray-trained Sure And Fast resumes following a three start spring campaign which commenced with a strong first up success over 1200m at Rosehill.

His win returned a Timeform rating of 103 and giving the run further merit was the fact the performance was produced in a strong form race moving forward.

Runner up in the event was the subsequent Group 1 winning three-year-old Holler.

After finishing second to Sure And Fast, Holler ran second to Mahuta in the Listed Gothic Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield on October 17 before dominating the Group 3 Telstra Phonewords Stakes (1200m) at Moonee Valley to conclude his spring campaign.

Holler then returned in 2016 with a first up success in the Group 2 Australia Stakes (1200m) before then claiming the Group 1 Canterbury Stakes (1300m) at Randwick on March 5.

Sure And Fast lines up in what looks a highly suitable first up assignment.

The son of Not A Single Doubt possesses a 50% winning strike rate from four prior first up outings and furthermore the gelding won his lone prior visit to this course as a two-year-old at the 2014 Wagga Carnival.

In a race where Sure And Fast is one of only seven horses who sit inside the handicap, only he and three of the remaining six can boast possessing the required recent form to play a key role in the finish.

2013 and 2014 Wagga Town Plate winner Unanimously can certainly become a triple winner of the event on Thursday.

The veteran sprinter heads to Wagga third up after two sound midfield efforts in Melbourne.

Now a rising nine-year-old, it will likely take time for the gelding to come to hand and work into his preparations.

The Matthew Dale-trained runner should be ready to show something more third run from a spell and already possesses solid third up credentials.

The better runs he produced through the spring would have him right in the thick of things here if replicated with a close fifth behind Tawteen over 955m at Moonee Valley on Cox Plate day returning a Timeform rating of 110.

From an inside barrier he should enjoy all of the favours in transit and might just need even luck in obtaining clear running down the straight to make his presence felt.

Just A Blur has been freshened since performing well in some competitive stakes affairs.

The mare recorded her first piece of black type when a half length second to Cosmic Cube in the Listed National Sprint (1400m) at Canberra on March 6 before producing a solid two length sixth in the Group 2 Emancipation Stakes (1500m) at Randwick behind Zanbagh.

While 1200m is short of Just A Blur’s optimum trip, she has won over the distance previously and also at the course.

The mare will settle back from a wide draw and can be working into calculations at the business end of proceedings.

Gamblestown is the last of the seven horses within the handicap who contests the Wagga Town Plate (1200m) with solid recent form.

The Joe Pride-trained runner placed on resuming over 1200m at Wyong where he settled last and rattled home into a close third.

Given five weeks between runs since, the son of Darci Brahma has been kept ticking over with a 799m Warwick Farm barrier trial.

Gamblestown was awarded a Timeform rating of 96 for his first up display, six pounds shy of a master Timeform rating of 102 he produced last spring when winning over 1400m at Rosehill.

A rise to 1200m will be of benefit for the five-year-old who has won two of his four starts at this distance.

Outside of the obvious class horses at the top of the weights, The Luke Pepper-trained Hill Spy is an intriguing runner.

The son of O’Reilly was making up a lot of late ground along the rail last start when fifth in the Listed Manihi Classic (1100m) at Morphettville on April 9.

Form out of that race has since held up well through the sixth placed Nostradamus who went on to claim the Group 3 R N Irwin Stakes (1100m) at Morphettville on April 23.

Hill Spy ran to a Timeform rating of 91 on that occasion and comes into calculations here on weight adjusted Timeform ratings.

He profiles as a lightweight hope however is must be noted how the five-year-old sits 3kg outside of the handicap.

SUGGESTED PLAY: Sure And Fast straight out @ $4.00

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