After her sluggish jump a few days ago the start for Karuta Queen in the Light Fingers Stakes this weekend was always going to be crucial.

That point has been driven home after the barrier draw in which the Neville Layt trained runner came up with gate 12.

It will be a full field of 16 as well with two emergencies on hand to ensure we run at capacity in the feature at Warwick Farm on Saturday.

Assuming the emergencies don’t get a start Karuta Queen will move into 11 but that still leaves plenty of horses between her and the fence.

On her side though is the fact much of the other speed is out with her.

In fact arguably the top three picks to make the early pace are all alongside each other, Streama in 11, Karuta Queen in 12 and Al’s Magic Miss in 13.

No doubt some inside them will also push up to try and keep them out which guarantees a blistering early tempo.

Karuta Queen showed last start she simply has to lead so she’ll be going forward at all costs while both Streama and Al’s Magic Miss can run off a sit but they still need to be towards the pointy end of the field.

The race may well be decided by just how many horses on the inside go forward and how hard the jockeys are willing to push to keep them there.

This of course opens the race right up for the back markers which is excellent news for Pane In The Glass.

While fellow back marker Hallowell Belle did well with gate four, Pane In The Glass will almost certainly be coming from last after snagging barrier 18.

Some of the other more significant results see Kneeling out wide in 17 alongside Emmalene in 16 whilst Fox and Schiffer performed well with gates one and two respectively.

Light Fingers Stakes Field