Paul Hunter is shooting for a major win on his home track with a recent acquisition that has shown ability in the past, but he’s happy to take a low-key approach and not get too absorbed in the pre-race hype for Sunday’s $400,000 Wellington & Reeves Bluff Knoll (1099m) at Albany.

A mainstay of Albany and Great Southern racing for decades, Hunter is as shrewd a trainer as anyone with the runs on the board to back it up, but he would much rather his horses do the talking and hopefully make a loud statement when it matters most on race day.

Hunter is the new trainer of Almighty Class, previously managed well by his nephew, Mitchell Pateman, who led the Playing God gelding to three wins, two seconds and a third from 10 starts and $335,7675 in prizemoney, before a surprising change of stables.

Almighty Class ran a couple of cracking races under Pateman's watchful eye, including a Max Simmonds Stakes (1000m) victory first-up before pushing top mare Super Smink to a short-neck second in the Belgravia Stakes (1200m) at his next start.

Pateman, a young trainer on the rise in WA, is a big admirer of Almighty Class and although unsuccessful, he wasn't shy in giving the gelding a crack at two major Perth races, the Group 1 Winterbottom Stakes (12000m) and $5 million Quokka (1200m).

In preparation for his next phase under Hunter, Almighty Class proved effective in winning a 1000m Albany trial, finishing ahead of Call Of Duty and Bluff Knoll rival, Rope Them In, who sat back and was doing his best work late over the concluding stages.

Rope Them In, a leading member of Steve Wolfe's team, was unveiled as $2.50 favourite when Tabtouch markets were released today (Wednesday).

Almighty Class is also prominent in betting, sitting on the second line at $4 with Perth sprinter, Snowdome.

"I don't want to put too much hype on him," Hunter said to Racing WA.

"I think he's had enough.

"He had a nice trial and a good blow out.

"It's all been pretty good and we'll see what happens.

"He's up against some smart horses, Rope Them In is a proper horse and Snowdome is going a lot better, but I think he's up to it.

"We don't go into these sorts of races if we don't think we are.

"He's at that level where they are the races he has to go in.

"You only get that rating for a reason.

"It's a good race and I'm happy to be a part of it."

Almighty Class has drawn barrier four and will be ridden by Jason Whiting.