The progressive four-year-old mare won back-to-back races at Albury over the spring and will be striving for her third victory on the track.

O'Prey raised the bar with Lady Kermadec last-start where she tackled city grade for the first time in midweek company at Sandown.

She showed her customary dash to lead at Sandown but faded over the final furlong to finish midfield over the staying trip of 1800m.

Lady Kermadec will tackle 2000m for the first time today in the $24,000 Benchmark Hcp with Richard Bensley booked to ride.

"I thought her Sandown performance was OK where she dropped off and was coming again late," O'Prey said.

"In my opinion she is a lot better suited in NSW and has an affinity for racing in the clockwise direction.

"She just seems to be a lot more comfortable for whatever reason.

"It's her first try over 2000m and I expect the race to provide an insight as to whether we are heading down the right path and that she is best suited over staying trips.

"She was a bit plain at Sandown but I feel she is a progressive horse and gets her chance to bounce back to winning form at Albury."

ALSO IN SPORT

O'Prey will also saddle-up stablemate Americconi in the same race.

Americconi started favourite at his most recent start at Corowa last month.

But unfortunately for favourite backers failed to fire when cluttered up on the fence in the home straight and running fourth.

"I don't think he appreciated racing inside horses at Corowa and he is a really big horse," O'Prey said.

"He weighs almost 650kg.

"So I would like to see him get to the outside of the field at Albury and if he does, I'm sure he will be charging late and hopefully fighting out the finish."

Lady Kermadec is quoted as a $4-chance in pre-post markets with Americconi at $19.

The Ben Brisbourne-trained Vintage Diesel is the $3.50-favourite.

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