A photo finish denied Canberra's five-year-old victory at the $500,000 race 12 months ago, but after a 16-week spell trainer Matt Dale believes Fell Swoop can go one better.

"With an 18-horse field at the Oakleigh Plate there are so many variables to weigh up, but I'm confident after a nice middle draw [barrier eight] and with Damien aboard," Dale said.

"Fell Swoop is a tough horse and high quality sprinter and has performed well at Caulfield before so with a bit of luck he'll be hard to beat."

Fell Swoop burst onto scene with a breakout year in 2016 winning the NSW Country Horse of the Year and Dale believes the sprinter is on the cusp of an even bigger season.

"Last year he'd never been out of listed grade so we were optimistic then, but now we know he has that quality and can compete successfully, so we know with a bit of luck he'll be right up there," he said.

"There are still a couple other horses in the race, multiple group 1 winners Extreme Choice and Flamberge [2016 Oakleigh Plate winner]. Also up-and-comers like Hellbent and Kaepernick that are down in the weight, so it's a good strong edition on the plate."

Dale considered bringing Fell Swoop back at Flemington's Lightning Stakes last Saturday but instead opted for the same lead-in to the TJ Smith Stakes as last year.

"It was just a bit of a flip of the coin decision and the Lighting ended up being every horse, so I thought the best preparation for Fell Swoop is to run on Saturday," he said.

"Then he'll run in the the Newmarket or the Galaxy and then third up at the TJ like we did last year when he ran second to Chautauqua, that's our plan again."

ACT Carbine Club will hold a luncheon on March 3 at the National Press Club with former leading trainer of Black Caviar, Peter Moody, the guest speaker. Tickets are $130 each and to book visit www.npc.org.au