Kembla trainer eyes Gold Coast riches

Michelle Ritchie isn't foreign to travelling interstate with partner Paul Murray but when she heads to the Gold Coast this weekend the trip will have a welcome twist.

"It is a role reversal, he is strapper this time," she laughed ahead of her debut trip to Queensland as a trainer.

Ritchie left Sydney with stable star Better Not Blue on Tuesday hopeful of securing a run in the weekend's Group 3 Gold Coast Guineas (1200m).

It shapes as the biggest trip of her training career and she admits it's "a bit more nerve-racking" taking the lead role.

One thing which will give her comfort, however, is the ability of her three-year-old, the son of Churchill Downs.

Better Not Blue broke through on a Wednesday in town last preparation before finishing second to impressive Kris Lees-trained colt Gold Seventy Seven in Saturday grade.

He was given a six-week let-up by Ritchie after the run but was put back in work in time for a crack at better races during the winter.

"I brought him back in and he had a trial at Randwick last Monday. He ran super in the trial and ran third," Ritchie said.

"He was hitting the line really well. Robbie Brewer was really happy with him and he beat some good horses [including 2013 Golden Slipper runner-up Earthquake] in the trial so I was happy with that.

"He has done everything right since he has been back in and is going super."

Ritchie is relying on a slice of luck to get a run on Saturday as Better Not Blue sits 18th in the ballot order.

Sixteen horses and five emergencies will be named when fields are released on Wednesday.

"There is three or four which are in a three-year-old race at Randwick on the Saturday as well, and a few fillies which are going to the other fillies' race at the Gold Coast so I am hopeful that I get a run that way," Ritchie said.

If things do turn out positive for Ritchie, it might not be the only visit to Queensland she has during the winter carnival.

"If he gets a run I will see how he goes. Most of the races I have marked out for him up there are about a month apart from each other, so I may bring him home and take him back," Ritchie said.

"He is a pretty good traveller. I have taken him to Wagga and Bathurst ... all sorts of places and nothing ever bothers him.

"I will probably bring him home on Sunday and see where he goes from there."

Ritchie also has five-year-old mare Graffiti nominated to run in a 2400m Benchmark 75 Handicap at Randwick on Anzac Day.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Bede Murray notched up a winning double at Wagga Wagga with wins to Termele (race one) and Fiercely Defiant (three).