His withdrawal has broken the Boot wide open and many of the experts say Alart is the horse to beat.

All Pat Farrell wants is for his filly Alart to be given an even chance at winning the Wellington Boot on Sunday, and she should be fighting out the finish. The two-day Wellington Race Club carnival kicks off on Saturday with a six-race program and the main event the following day will showcase plenty of classy two-year-olds, including Farrell’s filly. “With any luck, we should get away with this,” Farrell said. “She’s going that well and we’ve kept her for this race.” Alart has won two from four and is coming off a respectable fifth to Headwater in the Group 2 Silver Slipper Stakes at Rosehill. Her form prior included a scintillating run at Dubbo where she beat For Me Dad (another Wellington Boot runner) by 1 ½ lengths over 1000 metres in 55.95 seconds. “She almost broke the course record when she won that day and she gave them six lengths head start at the home turn,” Farrell said. “Her attitude is great. She’s not a rat bag and she does what you tell her to do.” Farrell, who has won the Wellington Boot before, has booked leading country hoop Greg Ryan to ride Alart. He quickly asked to retain the ride on the Excellent Art filly after she ran in the Silver Slipper Stakes. “She’ll be up on the speed and it’s going to be a tough race, but my biggest advantage is having Greg Ryan on board because he knows the track so well,” Farrell said. “I think she’ll win in the city in her next preparation.” Farrell identified the Gary Portelli-trained Racy as the horse to beat after she ran three lengths seventh to Always Alison in the Group 2 Sweet Embrace Stakes at Warwick Farm on February 28.