Trainer John O’Shea is happy with his star sprinter Lost And Running ahead of his tilt at the Gr.1 Newmarket Handicap (1200m) at Flemington on Saturday.

The Per Incanto gelding heads into the race off the back of winning first-up carrying 61kg in the Gr.3 Southern Cross Stakes (1200m) at Randwick last month.

The five-year-old will carry five kilograms less in the Newmarket and O’Shea said he has been thriving since arriving in Melbourne for the spring feature.

“This is a race we have always had on his radar,” O’Shea told RSN.

“The opportunity to get into the race with a nice weight wasn’t lost on us, particularly the way the weather has panned out here in Sydney.

“It was just a natural option to take.

“I think it is a nice weight. He drops significantly from what he carried the other day. It is a weight he should be competitive with.”

O’Shea said Lost And Running is fully coming of age now and he has received positive reports from his team in Victoria.

“He is just a nice, progressive horse that we have brought along steadily and tried to teach him his craft as he went along,” O’Shea said.

“He seems to be executing really well now.

“He has done very well in Melbourne. He will go into Saturday with a spring in his step.”

Lost And Running was bred by JML Bloodstock’s Lib Petagna and raised at Blandford Lodge in Matamata.

Petagna retains an interest in the impressive galloper, who races in the colours of Carl Holt, with partners including Frank and Christine Cook and O’Shea’s wife Isabel.