Michelle Payne has already claimed an historic Melbourne Cup win on Prince Of Penzance and will be out to cap a spring carnival to remember in her hometown Cup at Ballarat.
Payne will again team with Melbourne Cup-winning trainer Darren Weir in Saturday’s $300,000 Ballarat Cup, this time aboard Akzar.
Payne was keen to secure the ride on Akzar in the Kyneton Cup last start with a view to Ballarat, and was thrilled when connections booked her to ride the gelding in both races.
Nine-year-old Akzar finished a close fourth at Kyneton, a day after Payne rode Prince Of Penzance to victory at Flemington, and sits on the second line of betting for the Ballarat feature at $8.
Victoria’s premier trainer Weir, whose main training base is at Ballarat, also has Tooleybuc Kid ($9.50) in the Cup with Dean Yendall to ride.
The Robert Smerdon-trained Ungrateful Ellen is favourite at $6 with Sysmo a firmer to $8.50 while last year’s winner Mujadale is at $10.
The Matthew Smith-trained import Zayam, winner of his past two starts in Sydney, will run at Ballarat having also been entered for races in Sydney and Brisbane on Saturday.
