The ex-Kembla trainer, who moved his base to Warwick Farm last month, saw the positive side of a luckless run in the Riverina earlier this month as his five-year-old prepares to tackle her next assignment.

Anna’s Joy got trapped on the fence behind the speed before flashing home late to narrowly go down to Ribands over 1000m. 

Niceforo believes she will reap the benefits of the run when she contests the Livamol Conditional Benchmark 70 Handicap (1000m) at Hawkesbury on Wednesday afternoon. 

“She should have won at Wagga, but that’s racing. She was unlucky on the day but it taught her to come from behind which she doesn’t normally do,” Niceforo said. 

“She usually leads, but the young apprentice [Courtney Gravener], even though she didn’t see much daylight, she did come home.

“Hopefully we can do the same thing on Wednesday. Sit behind the speedsters and come home strong.”

Niceforo has opted for the experience of group one winning hoop Tommy Berry for the second-up run.

The trainer hopes Berry can find a speed in behind the speed from a tricky outside draw.

Anna’s Joy is a $5.50 TAB hope, with Clarry Conners’ Skyray ($2.80) holding favouritism. 

Whatever the result on Wednesday, Niceforo plans on testing his mare over longer sprints later this preparation. 

“With the facilities up at here, I can actually do more work with her so I think she will get over 1100 or 1200m,” he said.

“I didn’t have access to a pool at Kembla so this gives me the opportunity to work on her a bit more.”

Niceforo will also give Just Like Stratum his first run in more than two years later this week.

The injury-hampered sprinter hasn’t had a start since September 9 and has been nominated for three events (two at Canterbury, one at Kembla), with Niceforo still to decide which way he will lean.