Uncommon James faces Group 1 furnace in The Galaxy ahead of bumper hometown winter carnival

Co-trainer Matt Hoysted believes his Group 1 winner is back firing on all cylinders in what is a one-off run in Sydney before being primed for a winter carnival assault.

Damian Lane will team up with Uncommon James again in The Galaxy. Picture: Michael Klein.

Group 1 winner Uncommon James wasn’t at his best during the spring, but co-trainer Matt Hoysted is adamant his stable star is back firing ahead of the Group 1 The Galaxy on Saturday in what shapes as a huge winter carnival pointer.

Last year’s Oakleigh Plate winner will have a one off hit-and-run mission in Sydney on Saturday as Hoysted, who trains in partnership with Steve O’Dea saying Uncommon James can still match it at the top level.

While the stable are daring to dream of a golden run through the Brisbane winter, Hoysted believes the horse is going as well as he was at the same time last year, where he ran second to a flying Mariamia.

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“We wouldn’t be going down if we didn’t think he was good enough, we think he has a really live chance,” Hoysted said.

“Without knowing the final field, we want to see him up to these horses, Ozzmosis is obviously the new kid on the block, Private Eye has been there and done it.

“By no means can he not win, he is going as good as ever, we want to see him being really explosive.”

Uncommon James is looking to return to the winners’ circle again. Picture: Vince Caligiuri — Getty Images.

In what is a completely different preparation to 12 months ago, Uncommon James, who is owned and bred by Hoysted’s wife Caitlin, will run on Saturday before returning to Brisbane for races such as the Group 1 Doomben 10,000 and potentially the Stradbroke Handicap.

Victorian jockey Damian Lane will again ride Uncommon James after partnering with him for much of his career.

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“The break has done him the world of good, if we can get a soft run in transit it will make a huge difference, we think he can be really explosive late,” Hoysted said.

“He is in a different stage of his prep this time around, we are attacking it first up rather than being deep into it like last time.

“We really want to target our winter carnival so timing-wise, it worked out to have one hit and run race down in Sydney, it was the perfect kick off race for him.

“He’s going to have to be very good, because the race has come up really strong but we are really happy with him.”

Originally published as Uncommon James faces Group 1 furnace in The Galaxy ahead of bumper hometown winter carnival