Every racing person's dream is to win the Melbourne Cup and connections of Scarlett Lady are entitled to approach the thoroughbred holy grail with a degree of confidence.

On the cusp of her fourth birthday, Scarlett Lady is steering an interesting parallel course to Ethereal, winner of the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups double in 2001.

Both are New Zealand bred and had roughly similar lead-up performances to winning The Roses, a 2020 metre Group Three at Doomben before winning the Queensland Oaks (2400m).

If anything Scarlett Lady is better performed because she won four races in her home country compared with Ethereal's three. And Scarlett Lady appeared to produce a more authoritative performance in winning the fillies' classic at Eagle Farm.

As Scarlett Lady prepares to emulate the Melbourne spring triumph of Ethereal in the Melbourne Cup, she is due to resume next month in New Zealand by contesting the Challenge Stakes before crossing the Tasman for a solid program of Group races going towards the Flemington spring.

It will be interesting to see how the handicapper treats Scarlett Lady.

After all, Ethereal got into the Caulfield Cup with 50 kilos and an extra two kilos in the Melbourne Cup.

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New Zealand apprentice Jason Collett may have been a tad innately modest when he declared James McDonald was so far superior as a jockey. He was quoted as saying he couldn't get near McDonald in New Zealand.

However, young Collett made a splendid impression during his stint in Sydney with the Chris Waller stable. He is well-balanced, vigorous and has that splash of dash that is vital for a top jockey.

He seriously should consider a return to Australia on a full-time basis.

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Recent positive drug tests of horses raises an age old racing question.

No horse can progress through a preparation without incurring some minor injury that requires veterinary treatment. Then the juggling act evolves of how long before the horse may be safely entered for a race and all-encompassing swabbing procedure.

It is an accepted fact that some horses retain in their system the traces of treatment longer than others which puts the trainer in a Russian Roulette situation.

Yes, I know trainers are required to present their horses drug-free but in these days of sophisticated chemical analysis surely there must be a way for minor traces of therapeutic drugs to be deemed to be acceptable.

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Now for a look at the weekend racing.

It's no secret that I have a sky-high opinion of jockey Robert Thompson and his sporadic visits to metropolitan tracks always are entitled to be treated with respect.

Hence, at Rosehill I am going to back Alcancia in the Rosebud Fillies Preview. This Port Macquarie-based youngster has a sound form line of three wins from four starts. Significantly she has a perfect score of two wins on heavy tracks.

The astute Thompson should be able to compensate for an awkward barrier draw.

As for the Flemington meeting, I am going to be patient and wait for the final event and back Elumino, a mare from the all-conquering Peter Moody stable.

Although disappointing at her latest start she is entitled to another chance, particularly with apprentice Daniel Stackhouse utilising his valuable two kilo allowance.