The tough 4yr-old had his first run on a grass track in last Saturday's Geraldine Cup, running third behind Alta Ronaldo for Orange, who was having his first drive behind the entire since his sixth in the Harness Jewels in May.
Grass tracks can often dull horses with a brilliant sprint, although Mossdale Conner was able to overcome that in last year's Green Mile - a title he is back to defend tomorrow from barrier 6.
Brilliant Strike is drawn immediately inside Mossdale Conner in barrier 5, and Orange expects the surface - provided there is no rain - to suit his charge perfectly.
''Methven is as good a grass track as anywhere, if not the best in the country, so that will be no harm for him,'' Orange said.
''He's a genuine each-way chance but Mossdale Conner will be hard to beat, you would imagine.''
Brilliant Strike should not have lost any admirers after his Geraldine Cup run. Orange settled back before sending the entire forward to sit parked wide from the 800m mark.
''He sat three-wide from the half, made his own luck and only got beaten half a length, so you can't ask for much more than that,'' Orange said.
''You can never predict too much - we'll just see how it pans out early and make decisions as we go.''
Orange also has a drive in the Green Mile for trotters, although much of the interest will be on the duel between rising star Monbet and the established king of trotters, Stent.
Orange will start from barrier 3 with Valmagne, one spot outside Monbet and three positions inside Stent.
''A lot of racing people are waiting for Monbet versus Stent and the rest are left racing for the scraps,'' Orange said.
''Valmagne is in good form, so if he can run third or fourth, we're going to be happy.''
Orange's best chances could lie on the undercard with McArdle Star (race 8) and Buster Brady (race 2).
McArdle Star stayed in the c2 grade with a penalty-free junior drivers' win at Addington last week, but faces the barrier strands for the first time since running third at Oamaru in March.
''The stand is going to be interesting for him, but he should be all right. He's pretty sensible,'' he said.
''He's a horse on the up and he has a bit of ability, so if he steps away, he's going to be hard to beat.
''Buster Brady is quite a nice maiden. He can do a couple of little things wrong, but if he turns up in a good frame of mind, he'll be very hard to beat. He's better than a maiden.''
Whyamibettor (race 10) is a place chance, Orange said.
''She's in foal and getting near the end of her career.''
