Trainer Matthew Dale has been delighted with the preparation of Fell Swoop ahead of his first-up start in the Bledisloe Cup Festival Handicap (1000m), but he admits he is concerned about the prospect of a very heavy track at Royal Randwick tomorrow.

Tye Angland has been booked to ride Fell Swoop in the Bledisloe Cup Festival Handicap at Royal Randwick tomorrow. Photo by: Daniel Costello

Fell Swoop has recorded four wins from his five race starts, but he suffered his only defeat when he was beaten on a track rated a soft seven at Wagga Wagga on debut in April last year and Dale told Racing Ahead that he is unsure how the Not A Single Doubt gelding will handle the track that is currently rated a heavy 9.

“Obviously the concern is the very heavy track in Sydney tomorrow,” Dale said.

“He has raced on a soft five at Rosehill and his first ever start as a two-year at Wagga was on a soft seven, but he has never been on a really heavy track and I thought he could be a little vulnerable on it.

“It is a concern going into tomorrow, but that is my only concern going into tomorrow and all the other boxes are ticked.”

While Dale is concerned about the prospect of a heavy track, he could not be happier with the condition of Fell Swoop heading into the Bledisloe Cup Festival Handicap.

Fell Swoop recorded three dominant wins in Canberra during his summer campaign before he made his metropolitan racing debut win a win over Sure And Fast in the Tab.Com.Au Handicap (1200m) at Rosehill Gardens on February 25 and Dale believes that the rising four-year-old has gone to another level this preparation.

“He has had a faultless preparation,” Dale said.

“He has been in about three months and had a couple of jump outs and he has come back a little bit more seasoned and stronger.

“I am very happy with the way that he is leading into first-up.

“We have always had a decent opinion of him and he wouldn’t do much in trackwork, but he gained a lot of experience winning through his grades there in Canberra.

“He is a horse that has continued to progress and when he did win at Canberra there three in a row his times kept getting better and he kept winning by bigger margins.

“He is a progressive horse that we are looking forward to getting back to the races.”

Fell Swoop is currently available at Bledisloe Cup Festival odds of $4.20 with Ladbrokes from Darciwood ($5.50), Aroused ($7), Selectify ($7) and Cosmic Cameo ($7.50).