Three group 1-winning horses will line up in Saturday afternoon's The Gong.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The first, Nettoyer, is a horse the nation fell in love with after celebrating her Doncaster Mile win with a diet of champagne and pizza.
The second, Best Of Days is a veteran with his best seemingly behind him. The 2018 Cantala Stakes winner, this seven-year-old is considered an outside chance.
That leaves Olmedo. A highly-regarded French horse with just two starts in Australia.
While he remains a mystery, what we do know is that Chris Waller holds a high opinion of the six-year-old.
Winner of the group 1 French Guineas in 2018, Olmedo joined Waller's stable in the winter before lining up in this year's running of the Cantala last month.
The entire produced a solid showing to finish sixth behind stablemate and eventual winner Yulong Prince, and Waller predicts an even better horse will arrive at Kembla Grange on Saturday.
"He's the big improver of our three," Waller said of Olmedo. "He's won a group 1 race in France, he's a very good horse with international credentials.
"Unfortunately we haven't seen the best of him yet in Australia. If he gets back to his best on Saturday, he'll certainly be right in the finish."
Given The Gong's place at the end of the spring carnival, most horses lining up have arrived at the final race of their campaign.
Olmedo is unique in that he is early in the prep and will travel to Hong Kong following the race.
Once he returns, expectations are high the stallion can enjoy success in the autumn.
"I've been pretty happy with him at home. His trackwork, his first-up run was very good. I'm very happy with him, I think he's got the ability, that's for sure."
Olmedo is one of three Waller runners to chase the lucrative prize money, with defending champion Mister Sea Wolf and Reloaded to contest the $1 million race.
A year after lugging 59 kilograms to victory, Mister Sea Wolf will be required to carry 60kg on Saturday.
Many doubted his ability to win with the top weight in 2019 and many have again written the nine-year-old off. But not Waller.
"He had 59kg last year, so the way I'm viewing it is it's only one extra kilogram to carry. It still adds up, but further to that, he's got a good barrier draw. I think the barrier draw is so important in big races.
"Barrier six should give him a lovely run, enable (jockey) James McDonald to position him basically wherever he wants to sit."
Two races have emerged as the formguide for Saturday's race, the Cantala Stakes and the Golden Eagle.
Olmedo, Cascadian, Rock and Best Of Days lined up at Flemington, while contesting the $7.5 million feature at Rosehill were Brandenburg, Dawn Passage, Reloaded and Bottega.
Run in the rain on a heavy (9) track, Dawn Passage thrived to finish third, while Reloaded struggled for 15th.
With sunshine forecast on Saturday, Waller is expecting a much-improved performance from his four-year-old in The Gong.
"He didn't handle the track at all that day, he needs a good track. It was a big race last start, but he didn't like the track conditions at all, he should get better conditions on Saturday.
"He's been placed in group 1 races in the past, I expect to see him improve."