Tattsbet yesterday had Beautide second favourite at $5 behind his Miracle Mile conqueror Christen Me at $4.40.

He was also second favourite at $5.50 with tab.com.au but that operator had a different favourite, Guaranteed, at $4.50.

The $400,000 group 1 race is at Melton on Saturday night.

Beautide has missed his past two scheduled races, the first when his blood wasn’t right and the second when he had an elevated temperature.

However he showed he had fully recovered with an impressive trial win at Ballarat on Saturday when the time for last 800 metres was reportedly a flying 53.3 seconds.

In an on-line interview with high-profile commentator Adam Hamilton, trainer James Rattray said Beautide was now ‘‘very, very fit’’ and he was not going into the Victoria Cup thinking that the horse would be in need of the run.

“It’s not just how well he went in the trial, but how well he came through it,’’ Rattray said.

“In an ideal world, I’d have given him a lead-up run, but that wasn’t an option.

‘‘So I’ve poured the work into him and I’m really happy with where he’s at.

‘‘I’m going (to Melton) thinking he’s a big winning chance if we get the right sort of run.”

Beautide’s next assignment will be a heat of Inter-Dominion before, all going well, he defends his title in the final at Menangle on March 1.

Grand cloud

THE future of classy sprinter Grand Tycoon is under a cloud after the recurrence of a leg injury.

Stewards reported that the four-year-old pulled up lame in his near foreleg after finishing second to Hellova Street at Mowbray last week.

The gelding was sidelined for most of last year with a similar problem.

He made a successful return to the track at Elwick in mid-December, taking his record to 11 wins from just 15 starts.

Winning run

JOCKEY Anthony Darmanin’s recent winning streak – 10 wins from 18 rides over three meetings – is one of the best on record.

There have been no reportings of a similar feat since Stephen Maskiell rode 10 winners from 15 rides over three meetings in 1987.

Darmanin continued his good form with another double on Just Run and Sh’bourne Spirit at Elwick on Sunday.

Speechless

A NEW rule relating to protest hearings, on trial for an indefinite period in Victoria, allows only jockeys to give evidence.

Owners and trainers can still sit in on protests but, under normal circumstances, can’t participate in the debate.

The aim is to speed up the process and facilitate a move towards shorter gaps between races.

Due to some confusion over the new rule, trainers were allowed to speak during the Australia Stakes protest at Moonee Valley on Saturday.

And, it was a good example of why they shouldn’t.

Matthew Allen, rider of runner-up It Is Written, found it hard enough to justify his protest against the winner Mourinho.

But the contribution of It Is Written’s trainer Robbie Griffiths was fanciful, given the video evidence, and a waste of time.

The protest was quickly dismissed.

Day switch

THE harness meeting in Hobart on Sunday has been moved from a twilight to afternoon timeslot.

It will receive full Sky 1 coverage and start at 1pm.

Stakes up

HARNESS racing stakes will be increased for the next five months.

Starting this weekend, the minimum stakes for all Sunday twilight races will rise from $7000 to $7500, except claimers which will rise from $5000 to $6500.

Sires Stakes heats will increase to $10,000 and 17 feature races that were advertised at $8000 will increase to $10,000.

The increases will be funded by money saved from abandoned and deleted races over the past seven months.

Rattray again

GARETH Rattray landed yet another good-priced winner when Musselroe Bay took out yesterday’s $7000 New Norfolk Cup.

The Andrew Rawlings-trained six-year-old was a $9 chance with on-course bookmakers.

It was Rattray’s second successive win in the race, after scoring on $31 chance Put Mback last year.