Timaru trainer Leonard Stewart had a successful trip to Cromwell 12 months ago, and he hopes for more of the same with a number of runners heading to the two-day carnival on Friday and Sunday.
His seven-race winning mare Vague finished second in last year's equivalent of the Girl On The Ground and Urban Fencing (2030m), before a third placing to Capo Dell Impero and Jon Ol Rocco in the Happy Hire Cromwell Cup (2030m).
The daughter of Tobique has the same assignments ahead of her this weekend, coming off a number of creditable runs out of grade this preparation.
"She's just racing out of her class a wee bit recently," Stewart said. "But the top-rated horse is scratched (Burgie), so it's not so bad on Friday."
Patience has been the friend of stablemate Morrie, a seven-year-old by Natural Destiny who has run three placings from a trio of starts this campaign. Chasing his elusive maiden success, the gelding will line-up in the Jackson Smart and Omakau Auto Centre (1220m) on Friday, with the possibility of backing up in the Magpie Scaffolding Maiden (1400m) on Sunday.
"He's taken a long time to mature and the penny has finally dropped," Stewart said
"I think he's on the mark now, he's working well, enjoying his racing and wants to be in it."
Stewart holds a similar opinion of Our Princess Boot , a mare racing consistently well over ground, with her recent performances being credited to regular rider Terry Moseley.
"The big factor for her recently has been Terry Moseley's positioning of her in the races, he seems to be able to pop her in and give her a good ride every time," Stewart said.
"She may be six, but she's still maturing, and we may look to put her out for a while after this and look to next year."
Our Princess Boot will contest the Peter Lyon Shearing and Breen Construction (2030m) alongside stablemate Callmeginger, while veteran galloper Take The Deel is looking to go one better after finishing second in three of his last four starts when contesting the A1 Homes and A Woman's Touch Clean (2030m).
"He got galloped on about nine months ago and he's a real thinking horse," Stewart said.
"Sam Wynne (jockey) got on him more recently, and I don't know whether it's her Irish tone, but he seemed to respond to her and get out there and give it a go.
"He seems to have his confidence back now and he's been running well."
Stewart will also have Sympathique and Aorangi Assassin entered in the Metalcraft Roofing and New World Alexandra (1220m), with every horse nominated for a respective assignment on the final day.
"There's a couple of others we are taking down that are still maturing, they are improving and running reasonable races, so we thought we'd give them a trip away and see how they come through it before having a break," he said.
"All going well we will look to back them up on Sunday, hopefully they get a bit of moisture in the track although they do irrigate well down there. As long as it's not too hot and the horses come through the first day.
"I think the committee and the volunteers at Cromwell make this carnival so good, everyone is helping out."
