Tasmania’s star 2yo from last season, Aristopolos, will be an attraction at Friday night's meeting at the Ladbrokes Racing Centre Mowbray in Launceston.

The colt won’t face any opposition, but he will gallop between races in preparation for his return next month.

Aristopolos swept all before him as a 2yo, going through the season unbeaten from six runs. He was recently named Tasmania’s 2yo of the year.

He will likely race first-up in the $150,000 3yo Cup on 20 November in Launceston.

“He’ll just go one lap; he’s going to gallop between races four and five; he’ll stride off from the half mile,” trainer John Blacker said.

The state's top jockey from last season, Erica Byrne Burke, who rode Aristopolos in all his wins, will be aboard.

“Be good for him to get away from home and stretch his legs, and he will trial at Longford on Tuesday week, and then he will trial in Hobart the day after the Melbourne Cup and then onto the 3yo Cup.

“He’s been in work since August 3, so he’s been in for a little while, just ticking over, doing a lot of ground work. He’s done some fast work; he’s not tuned right up, but he will have a nice gallop on Friday night.

“He looks magnificent, he looks really well. Lauryn Bingley rides him work, and she says he just feels so good underneath her, so looking forward to getting him back to the races.”

Friday will be a relatively quiet night for the Blacker stable with just six runners, but he is confident that at least two of his horses can run very well.

Smithy ran a much-improved race last time out and will tackle the first with Luke Dempsey aboard, while Stollaway Ned, who flashed home for second last week behind Wolf Junior last Friday, will race out of his grade in a class 2 but should appreciate an extra 200m.

“We’ve stepped him up in trip to the mile on the back-up; he’s done really well all week. His rating makes it a bit hard; he goes from a class 1 to a class 2 and more or less carries the same weight. It’s probably a bit of a concern, but he’s going well, and I think he will go through his grades, so he should go close.”

Pires makes his return

In a boost for the jockey ranks, former premiership winner David Pires is back in the saddle this week. Pires hasn’t ridden since 31 May when he fell at the start of a race in Devonport.

Pires, who rode at the Longford trials on Tuesday, has accepted two rides, Regal Hunter and Cool Heart. Both trained by Jessie Bazan.

Racing gets underway at 18:00. All the action from the course can be seen on Racing.com and Tasracing Live.

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