SANDOWN PARK, RACE 6 BOX 1, 7:49PM

There’s a sweet smell of success about Black Opium… And The Watchdog predicts her ‘winning scent’ will be wafting through the air at Sandown Park tonight.

One of the nation’s premier speedsters, Black Opium, named after a perfume by Yves Saint Laurent, recently enjoyed a fruitful foray in Queensland where she contested two Group race finals – including finishing runner-up in the Group 1 Brisbane Cup over 520 metres at Albion Park.

Tonight she steps up to the middle distance for the first time in a Mixed 4/5 over 595 metres. Not only should she give the magical 34-second barrier a serious shake, but a win will edge her closer towards $400,000 in prizemoney.

Check out Black Opium’s scintillating 29.21sec victory from box six in a heat of last year’s Group 1 Melbourne Cup series over 515 metres at Sandown Park: