Ideally he needs a good circuit for last-start Muswellbrook winner Pippi’s Pride in the Kayuga Cup (1450m) but a track with plenty of give in the ground for his interesting first-starter, La Loi, in the Magic Millions Maiden (900m).

“I will accept with Pippi’s Pride then wait and see what the track is like on race morning before deciding whether to start him,” Gleeson said.

“If it is any worse than a soft 5 he won’t start and ideally I would like it even drier than that.

“He is simply no good on rain-affected ground.”

Gleeson will stick with the state’s premier apprentice, Cejay Graham, after she guided Pippi’s Pride to an all the way win in the Denman Cup over 1280m.

It was only her second ride on the horse and came about after Pippi’s Pride had run a frustrating sequence of minor placings with other jockeys aboard.

“Ceejay a very balanced rider and she did the job so well I had to put her back on,” Gleeson said.

“I rang her the other night to book her and she was very excited to be back on the horse.

“It’s a case that when you find a winning formula, then stick with it.”

La Loi is a five-year-old mare having her first start and to get this far with her is a testament to Gleeson’s patience.

“She is a lovely, well bodied mare but kept going shin sore,” he said.

“I had no option but to keep turning her out in the hope that the problem would rectify itself.

“I had x-rays done thinking there might have been a problem but all they showed was that she was shin sore. 

“She has only had two trials in her career, the first one in October last year and again when she won here last month.

“She’s progressed well since that second trial and there is no sign of the shin soreness so far.

“She is not she sort of mare that you can give a lot of track work to because of those issues so she mainly does slow work and swimming.

“I like her and I think she has ability but trials are one thing and races totally different.

“Hopefully, we can get her through a preparation this time around.”

Ashley Morgan rode her to her trial win, was impressed and retains the ride on Tuesday.