Mick Bennett has a pair of specials for Sydney's main card.

The first meeting of the new season at Rosehill on Saturday will be run in sloppy conditions. At the time of writing the track is rated a heavy 8, with up to 60mm forecast to fall on Friday and Saturday.

On a challenging day the best looks to be Denman Star in Race 2, the Midway.

This honest gelding from the Angela Davies yard has returned in good shape this prep. He scored first-up on a soft 6 at Canterbury then had a 32-day let-up before a game second over 1300m at Rosehill where he made up plenty of late ground, again in soft going.

He will certainly strip fitter for that last run, and the step up to 1400m is ideal.

The son of Denman has raced once and failed in heavy going, but it was very early in his career and he is a better horse now.

McDonald takes the ride which boosts the confidence. He has ridden for Angela Davies just ten times in his career, for a remarkable seven wins. This new season five-year-old looks a great chance to add another success for this imposing partnership.

The value play comes in Race 8, the Waterhouse/Bott trained Fully Lit.

The four-year-old is now four runs into his campaign and looks ready to peak.

Last start he raced fiercely outside the leader and had nothing left at the end of 1300m in a race won by the in-form King Of Roseau.

Gai and Adrian have opted to remove the blinkers today which should see him settle more tractably. Adam Hyeronimus takes over and it is anticipated he will allow the gelding to roll along in front. He has his share of weight but drops sharply in grade from the last three runs.

His only try on a heavy track was first-up this campaign when fresh from a 14-month spell. Understandably he weakened at the end of that race so don't hold that against him when it comes to assessing suitability in the going. Two wins in soft ground suggest he doesn't mind getting the toe in.

An early quote of $6.50 looks nice each-way shopping.

SYDNEY SPECIALS

BEST BET: Race 2 No. 1 DENMAN STAR at $3.10

BEST EACH-WAY: Race 8 No. 1 FULLY LIT at $6.50