Tony Sergi will saddle-up his first metropolitan runner since the 2017/2018 racing season.

It’s been over three years since Tony Sergi has saddled up a metropolitan runner, but Island Bay Boy will change all of that when he lines up in the Precise Fire Handicap (1200m) on Saturday.

Island Bay Boy is resuming from a spell and trialled well on Canberra’s Acton track only a week ago.

The Queanbeyan-based trainer’s last metropolitan runner was Brockton Punch, who raced at Canterbury in January 2018.

Sergi is looking forward to heading back to town on Saturday.

“It’s been a while, it’s hard to get some good horses when you’re a small trainer like myself,” he said.

“Every now and then one pops up.

“It’ll be good to go back.”

Island Bay Boy’s last race start was in the MTC Guineas (1600m), where he finished 3.4L away in an unlucky fifth position.

The form out of the race has been good, with the winner and second placegetter both performing well in Saturday metropolitan meetings whilst the four-year-old was spelling.

The Queanbeyan-based horseman says the son of All Too Hard has returned from his spell in great condition, with the best yet to come from the four-year-old.

“I think he’s a horse on the way up, for sure,” he said.

“We put him out for a spell after that Guineas run and he’s come back bigger and better than ever.

“The way the horse is bred, I think he’s going to be a miler, and he’s a very, very good horse to have.

“His attitude is great, demeanour, you race him and it’s like he never even went around.

“He’s got such good conformation. You’ve got to be happy with a horse like that.

“I think he’s come back better than ever. He’s grown a hand, probably put on 50 kilos with his spell, so I’m really happy with him.”

As of Wednesday, Island Bay Boy is a $31 chance with http://tab.com.au.

Article from JustHorseRacing.com.au