There are winning runs and then there is the uncanny combination Glyn Schofield has built with Joe Pride's returning sprinter Ball Of Muscle.
For a man who seems to be able to do no wrong at the moment, Schofield's rivals won't want to delve too deep into the Concorde Stakes form.
Six times, six wins. That is the flawless record Schofield has engineered on Ball Of Muscle, who just can't seem to stick his neck out when the South African isn't aboard.
"There's not many combinations that go unbeaten - I can only think of a couple that spring to mind - and I'd love for him to continue that record with me and it's one that I don't want to break," said Schofield, who steered one-time problem child Boban to victory in last weekend's Memsie Stakes, the first group 1 of the season.
"Maybe I find the right races to ride him in. He certainly gives me a lovely ride every time I'm on him and I hope that's the same on Saturday."
Schofield, whose son Chad will begin a Hong Kong riding stint with a near full book on Sunday, has wound back the clock in recent months to again become one of the most in-form riders in Sydney.
"Form is a funny thing," Schofield said. "You can be flavour of the month and then have a quiet spell and people go elsewhere. You can either spiral downwards or gather momentum and at the moment it's gathering momentum.
"I know how to ride a racehorse and sometimes winning races just gives people that little bit of an extra jolt to put you back on.
"Sydney is full of top class riders at the moment and sometimes good rides are hard to come by. I know when I get on a good one I will give it as good a chance as anyone."
And he won't have a better chance to prove that when he is legged aboard Ball Of Muscle, an impressive recent trial winner over stablemates Craftiness and Terravista, in the group 3 Concorde Stakes.
Ball Of Muscle has been backed into $4 outright favouritism with Ladbrokes ahead of the drifting Shiraz and Craftiness (both $4.60).
"He's going to be campaigning in the group 1s in Melbourne and for him to be in the front end of those races, I think he needs to find another length or two," Schofield said.
"And I've got no doubt he will improve those couple of lengths because he has shown he improves significantly from race to race.
"He had quite a soft trial and even though it was a trial with a lot of quality, he ended up doing it quite softly in the end. It's the minimum trip of 1000 metres, but he does feel quite sharp."
