Group I-placed Odeon struck twice early in his last campaign and co-trainer Simon Zahra says the four-year-old will show the same sharpness when he resumes at Flemington on Saturday.
Odeon resumes in The Sofitel over 1400m, a trip the gelding scored over when resuming at Bendigo in March.
The race was only a Class 1 but Odeon carried plenty of condition before he improved to thrash his rivals in a metropolitan three-year-old race at Mornington second-up.
"He's sharp enough over 1400m. He won first-up over 1400m last time in. I know it was up the bush but he was pretty fat and there was a lot of improvement to come," Zahra, who trains Odeon in partnership with Mathew Ellerton, said.
Odeon continued to improve, beating the older horses at Caulfield in April before a solid third to Volatile Mix in the Group I South Australian Derby (2500m) on May 13.
Zahra and Ellerton did not nominate Odeon for the Caulfield Cup, which can be taken as a lead the Flemington duo views the son of Zacinto differently this time in.
"I think he's a miler or 2000m horse at the moment. I don't think he's a real stayer at this stage of his career," Zahra said.
"That is why we never nominated him for Caulfield Cups and those races, and he's got a rating of 84 and that makes him tricky to place. That's a problem."
Ellerton and Zahra have got Odeon into the field for Saturday's $120,000 contest on the limit weight on 54kg but drawing barrier 14 will consign jockey Chris Symons to riding the horse quietly.
"He's drawn wide so he just has to go back from barrier 14.
"We expect him to be hitting the line well."
Sportsbet has Odeon at $26 in its latest market on The Sofitel. Mr Sneaky, who won a Benchmark 78 at Caulfield last time out is a $3.40 favourite ahead of Chocolate Holic at $4.
The Robert Smerdon-trained Theanswermyfriend is on the third line of betting at $5.
