A TRACK gallop on Tuesday morning convinced Tim Martin to send Danawi to the $200,000 Group 2 Stan Fox Stakes (1500m) and not The Run to the Rose (1200m) at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday.

Danawi broke through last start in the Group 3 Ming Dynasty Quality (1400m) at Rosehill and Martin feels a step back in trip wouldn’t suit him at this stage of his preparation.

“It’s just got to do with the way he worked on Tuesday morning,” Martin said. “He’s more dour now and backing up took the edge off him as far as his sharpness goes. I think he’ll run out the 1500m well and be pretty competitive in that race.”

The Exceed And Excel three-year-old has led in all but one of his four races and hasn’t finished worse than second. But he will be even stronger to the winning post if he can find some cover in the run and the Rosehill track suits his style more than Randwick.

“He’s always drawn wide and if he can draw a good barrier we can shut him down and he can sit third or fourth,” Martin said.

“Once he gets a horse in front of him he will relax. He has a good turn of foot and has always shown a lot. It’s like playing footy. You always play better at your home ground and he’ll race better at Rosehill.”

Danawi will likely have to take on The Autumn Sun, who is undefeated from three starts, including the Group 1 JJ Atkins (1600m) at Doomben in the winter.

He defeated Danawi at Randwick when both were on debut in April, but Martin thinks his colt can avenge that loss on Saturday.

“I’m actually looking forward to taking him on again,” he said. “He’s a very good horse but he was better prepared for the race they first met in. He had four trials before that race but this time we’re more forward.”

The long-term plan for Danawi is the $1m Golden Rose (1400m) at Rosehill on September 22. “The Golden Rose is going to be a hot race,” Martin said.

“It’s a really good year for these three-year-old colts but he’s very good. He’s a different horse this preparation and I think he’s a 1400m to a mile type of horse.”

Meantime, Sunlight’s planned assault on the Golden Rose has hit a hurdle with the filly ruled out of her lead-up run because of a temperature.

The Tony McEvoy-trained three-year-old had been entered for the Run To The Rose with a view to stretching out to 1400m two weeks later in the Group 1 Golden Rose.

McEvoy told Racing NSW stewards on Tuesday the filly had an elevated temperature.

The winner of six of her nine starts including the Magic Millions Classic and third in the Golden Slipper, Sunlight will need a veterinary clearance before she races again.

Unbeaten colt Graff from the Kris Lees stable is the TAB’s $2.50 favourite for the Run To The Rose ahead of Wednesday’s declaration of the final field.

He is the $6 equal favourite in the Golden Rose alongside The Autumn Sun who is scheduled to run in Saturday’s Stan Fox Stakes (1500m).