But the south-west trainer believes the four-year-old mare will improve with the run under her belt.

McKenzie has called on the services of top Warrnambool apprentice jockey Laura Lafferty to ride Harry's Girl in the maiden over 1300 metres.

"We've just taken our time with Harry's Girl," he told The Standard.

"There's been no rush to give her a run but she showed with a good recent trial at Penshurst she's ready to go to the races.

"I was really happy with the trial. She hasn't showed much early speed that's why we didn't enter her in the 1000-metre maiden.

"The 1300m maiden was a more suitable race for her. I think she's going to need more ground in the future before we see her best form."

McKenzie said Lafferty was an ideal choice for the race.

"Laura is a good young rider who will give Harry's Girl every chance," he said.

"We'll probably give Harry's Girl a short break after Thursday, it'll just depend how she performs."

Harry's Girl, who has drawn barrier four, is rated a $21 chance in the early betting markets.

Warrnambool Racing Club racecourse manager Daniel Lumsden said the eight-race program will have a track rating of a good four.

"The track has dried out over the last week so we've had to irrigate the track pretty extensively," Lumsden said.

"We've had four millimetres of rain for the week but we've put on 48 millimetres of irrigation. The running rail will be out six metres for the whole track."

The first race is at 1.30pm while the last is at 5pm.

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