Australian Venture won a benchmark 64 race over 1400 metres at Hamilton for the respected trainer.

Daffy saddles up Sabres and Me Hungi in the 1400-metre cup today, which is the feature on the eight-race program.

Sabres resumes following a break of 221 days and Me Hungi fronts up after failing to finish the course in the Donald Cup on November 16, but Daffy is hopeful both his charges will run well in a tough race.

“It’s an excellent country field for a Thursday. There’s some very good horses in it,” he said.

“Me Hungi failed to fire last time. He was eased out of the Donald Cup by his jockey Craig Robertson. 

“We’ve had the vet check him out and there appears to be nothing wrong with him. 

“He’s worked well since his Donald Cup effort. 

“I would say on his best form Me Hungi would be very competitive but it’s a wait-and-see exercise for us. We’ve got our fingers crossed he runs well.”

Sabres performed below expectations in his last preparation, which forced the veteran trainer to give the six-year-old a good break.

“He just never came up last time in work. Sabres seems to be in really good shape now,” Daffy said.

“He’s got a very good first-up record, which should hold him in good stead today. He’s a tough horse to place, as there are not the races in the country for him now. 

“Horses like him they want to run in town. We’ve had to kick off his campaign somewhere and this seemed the race at this time of his prep.”

Daffy said he was eyeing off the trainer’s bonus of $2000, which is on offer for the most successful trainer with runners in the Port Fairy, Woodford and Koroit cups over the next three race meetings at Warrnambool.

The first race today starts at 1.20pm, with the Port Fairy Cup set down to start at 4.20pm.