Mystery Island will need track to stay in soft range in bid for back-to-back Warrnambool Cup wins
Mystery Island last year's Warrnambool Cup on Soft 6 ground from barrier one but faces tougher circumstances for his bid for back-to-back triumphs.
A heavy shower on Wednesday pushed the track down into the heavy range for the last three races with cold conditions to hinder any track improvement on Thursday.
'We don't want it really wet, a Soft 5 or Soft 6 would be perfect,' Mystery Island's trainer Shane Jackson said.
Mystery Island won from barrier one in 2024 but jockey Harry Coffey will contend with gate 17 this time.
Jackson said Coffey would not change the way he rode the Japanese-bred stayer because of the barrier.
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'He's flying but he's one of those horses that everything needs to play out in his favour,' Jackson said.
'He's drawn a terrible gate but Harry can work that out.
'You can't force him to be in a winning spot anyway. He has to be ridden where he's happy.'
Mystery Island has had four runs in 2025, finishing two lengths from the winner at Caulfield in March before a strong second in the Terang Cup on April 15.
Jackson said the Terang Cup run was an indication Mystery Island was racing in terrific form.
'His run in the Terang Cup was huge,' Jackson said.
'If he was a pair closer, he wins the Terang Cup.
'Everytime we run in a race we think he can win, they go too slow then he gets outsprinted.'
Mystery Island will carry 54kg on Thursday, the same weight he carried to his first win in the feature event.
However, Jackson said Mystery Island was not the only well-weighted horse in the Warrnambool Cup.
'He's back in on 54(kg) so he's well weighted,' Jackson said.
'(Mornington Cup winner) Bankers Choice not accepting also helped because he was getting in well with 60kg.
'But there's still a couple well in at the weights.'
Mystery Island is on the fourth line of Warrnambool Cup betting at $8.50.
Immediacy is the favourite at $2.80 ahead of the Terang Cup winner Ziryab at $6.
Mystery Island will attempt to give Jackson a win on each of the three days of the Warrnambool May carnival after winning jumps races with Highland Blaze on Tuesday and Jekyll'n'hyde on Wednesday.
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