Master Of Arts, Gallic Chieftain, Kiwia and Yogi fly the flag for the Weir stable which is attempting to win its fifth Warrnambool Cup – four of those victories have been over the past four years.

The lightly-raced stayer Scholarly carries the hopes for Australia’s First Lady of Racing.

“Darren and his horses have a great record at Warrnambool,” Waterhouse said.

“Darren’s Warrnambool Cup record is outstanding but Scholarly is an up-and-coming stayer.

“I think he’s a rising star.

“He has not put a foot wrong.

“He’s only had a handful of starts and is going well.

“Scholarly has a big weight drop but is up in class.

“Barrier one is usually is an advantage but we’ve got to see how the track is racing on Thursday before finalising our tactics.

“We’ve got in-form jockey Stephen Baster on board.

“From his five wins, Stephen has ridden him twice so he’s got a good understanding of the horse.”

Brierly Steeplechase-winning trainer Symon Wilde is chasing another feature at the carnival this week with Dodging Bullets lining up in the 2350-metre race.

Top jockey Ben Melham has the steering duties on the six-year-old for Wilde.

“It’s our first try at the 2350 metres so it’s a question mark whether we can run the distance,” he said.

“I think he’s not far away from Group level races – this is about his class the listed race status.

“The furthest he’s run over is 2000 metres.

“We’ve decided to have a throw at the stumps with him. I’m confident he’ll be very competitive in a tough race. Weiry appears to hold the key to the cup again this year.”

Swacadelic, trained in Warrnambool by Aaron Purcell, rates a chance following his Terang Cup victory and a second placing in the Stawell Cup.

“His form is very good leading into the cup,” he said. “My biggest concern is the wide barrier but he usually drops back in the early stages of his races.”

The cup is race nine on the program, it’s scheduled to begin at 3.55pm.