Singleton trainer Aaron Goadsby expects The Bus to step up at Newcastle on Friday night as he prepares for the NSW Breeders Challenge series at Menangle.
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The Bus will race in the third at Newcastle after finishing fifth, 8.6 metres from the winner, first-up at Penrith on June 6.
The Gold Nugget winner is being set for the group 1 four-year-old colts and gelding Breeders Challenge series, which starts with semi-finals at headquarters on June 22.
The Bus, which won the listed Lady Driver Invitational at Menangle in March before going for a spell, was equal second-favourite behind Ignatius for the series with Sportsbet at $6.
Goadsby was happy with The Bus's return and he expected him to be in the mix at Newcastle, where he will have to overcome a poor draw in eight.
"It's second run back and it was a good run last week, so hopefully he's back to his best," Goadsby said.
"They went 1:55, home in 55 at Penrith, so he went pretty good and stuck on, and I've been happy with him since.
"He won't be far away. He's drawn a little bit wide but if we're going for the better races, he'll need to be competitive."
Race one on the eight-event program is at 6.16pm.
