Ben Gledhill is in charge of Australia's premier trotting stable in Lang's absence and isn't sure what the plans are with the dual Inter Dominion trotting champion post Friday night.

"I know the plan is for him to have a few days off after the race, but I'm not sure if he'll have another run," Gledhill said.

"Chris comes back on Monday and I think he's waiting until he gets back to finalise arrangements for the New Zealand trip."

Sundons Gift is being aimed towards the NZ$250,000 Group 1 Rowe Cup at Auckland's Alexandra Park on Sunday, May 7.

The Sundon gelding convinced Lang to target becoming the first Australian to win that race since La Coocaracha in 2002 when he got within 0.1 seconds of the Australian mile record with a 1:56.3 win at Menangle on Sunday.

Gledhill said the eight-year-old came through his first outing since securing back-to-back Inter Dominion titles at Moonee Valley on February 6 well and is a huge chance of posting his 31st win at start number 59.

"He came through last week's trip very well and he's as keen as ever," he said. "Menangle was his first run since the Inter, so he was a bit fresh but now he's had that run and a bit of travel he's fairly fit again."

Sundons Gift's quest for back-to-back Maori's Idol Memorials - he won last year's at his last Australian run before heading to Sweden - will be carried out from barrier 12 at Melton's Tabcorp Park.

Gledhill said that shouldn't prove too much of a hindrance despite the presence of high-quality rivals Acacia Ridge (11), Ronerail (seven) and Joe Bro (six).

"He's come back from Sweden a different horse and is showing a lot more gate speed, but he's not one dimensional and doesn't have to go forward," he said.

Lang's son, Chris Jnr, will assume the spot behind Sundons Gift on Friday night, leaving Gledhill to take the reins aboard stablemate Kyvalley Mac, who will start from barrier one.

Brad BISHOP