PAUL Fitzpatrick has played the waiting game with King Triton and it's time to see whether the three-year-old can make waves in his first Bathurst start.
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King Triton is two from two to start his career but he spent a year in the paddock between those two runs, only coming back earlier this month with an easy win at Penrith.
He lines up in Wednesday night's Kevin and Kay Seymour Evolution Series 3YO Colts and Geldings Heat where he's likely to start as favourite out of gate seven.
King Triton impressed Fitzpatrick with his big win on debut at Newcastle last August but it was evident the then-two-year-old needed time to mature and fill out his big frame.
"We were getting him ready to trial and we just weren't happy with him so we turned him out again.
"He's a big horse so we thought the extra time would do him a world of good.
"We've got a fairly high opinion of him and we think he can go a fair way. He's a very good horse so we've just been patient with him and given him the time he needed.
"We'll see how he goes in this series before deciding what to do with him. We might end up putting him away for that big million dollar race that has just been announced. He's well graded for that one."
King Triton's main danger in Wednesday's race looks to be the runner on his outside, Roger That, who is making his first start since the Breeders Challenge Regional Final for trainer Brad Hewitt.
The advantage King Triton has is his flexibility.
"He can sit or go to the top, he doesn't care," Fitzpatrick said.
"In his last start at Penrith it was the first time we've asked him to come out of the gate and he did that really well. He's adaptable."
We've got a fairly high opinion of him and we think he can go a fair way.
- Paul Fitzpatrick
Much of Fitzpatrick's high hopes for his American Ideal gelding comes from the performance of his older half-sister Ocean Diva, who the family also raced.
Four-time Group 1 runner-up Ocean Diva is one of four foals out of The Neptunes Lady to take to the track.
With more than a quarter of a million dollars to her name, before beginning her broodmare career, Ocean Diva provided many magical moments for Fitzpatrick.
"The Neptunes Lady was a really great mare. We've raced all her foals. Ocean Diva was a wonderful mare," he said.
"She hasn't had a lot of luck at stud unfortunately. A lot of her foals have died and we haven't had the chance to trial others but we always thought she'd be a nice broodmare so we're pretty keen to try her stock."