Family commitments will see former Warrnambool Racing Club track manager Liam O'Keeffe absent from Thursday's Grand Annual Steeplechase but he'll be on course for the first two days of the carnival. O'Keeffe, who is now track manager at Flemington, hasn't been at his home-town carnival for seven years. The keen golfer will be trackside with Moonee Valley racecourse manager Martin Synan.

MORE RACING: Jockey hoping for early birthday presents at the carnival

TAB'S Adam Hamilton will miss his first May Carnival in more than 30 years this week. It's believed Hamilton is weighing up his career options.

Warrnambool trainer Symon Wilde is chasing his own piece of history at the carnival this week. Wilde, who has trained four of the big five feature winners namely the Brierly, Wangoom, Warrnambool Cup and Grand Annual, needs to win the Galleywood to make a clean sweep of the features. The 41-year-old trainer saddles up Britannicus in Wednesday's Galleywood.

MORE RACING: Bit Of A Lad, a bit of a Brierly chance

Flying Agent, on the back of two impressive steeplechase trials around Warrnambool, has been heavily backed for the Brierly Steeplechase on Tuesday. The Amy McDonald-trained jumper was an $8 chance in the early TAB betting markets for the 3450-metre race. Flying Agent's price shortened to $2.15 before more money saw him come into a $2 chance.

Popular Warrnambool trainer Merv McKenzie celebrated his 80th birthday on Saturday. McKenzie has his fingers crossed his handy sprinter A Good Yarn may win a 1000-metre race at the 'Bool on Wednesday. A victory would see the birthday celebrations continue for another few days.

MORE RACING: Inside word from the trainers - day one

Warrnambool Racing Club racecourse manager Daniel Lumsden pulled the right rein not watering the track on the warm days. Lumsden looked at the weather bureau reports for Monday and they predicted some rain. The racing surface for Tuesday should be ideal, according to Lumsden.

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