Last year's winner Falcon's Fury will be a surprise absentee but early favourite Tristan Cannon and Victorian flying machine Jimmy Newob will ensure Saturday's heats of the Group 2 Bulli Gold Cup are among the strongest on record.
Falcon's Fury smashed the Bathurst 520m record on January 29 and will miss Bulli to tackle Monday week's heats of the Bathurst Gold Cup.
"The Bathurst final is on Friday, January 23 and the Bulli Cup is the following night so obviously I could not have Falcon's Fury in both races,'' trainer Paul Braddon said.
"As Bathurst is a lot closer to my home at Cowra, that venue got the nod.''
Leading Melbourne trainer Kel Greenough will nominate Jimmy Newob and Northern Nangar for the Bulli Gold Cup.
Jimmy Newob, who has won 17 races, was runner-up to champion Aston Dee Bee in the Warragul Cup on January 13 and equalled the immortal Fernando Bale's Bendigo 425m record on April 28.
"Jimmy Newob should be suited to Bulli because he is a better dog on a big, one turn track like that than he is on tighter circuits,'' Greenough said.
"Northern Nangar has won eight from 16 starts and is a lucky recent acquisition to my kennels.
"He is owned by Dennis Barnes of ORANGE and because he had been sold he was sent down to Victoria.
"But the sale fell through so Dennis called and said since the dog was already in my state, was I willing to train him?
"Northern Nangar ran a great race to finish second in a Warragul Cup heat but fell over in the final.''
Tristan Cannon, who has won 15 of 28 starts and is a Bulli specialist, is trained at Kemps Creek by Jason Magri for owners Mark Sultana and Matt Wiseman.
"I bought him as a pup for $3000 and originally had him with Queensland trainer Greg Brennan,'' Sultana said.
"We backed him from $21 to $5 when he won the Young Guns Final up the straight at Capalaba but after that Greg suggested the dog would be better off in Sydney where there were more opportunities for dogs partial to big tracks.
"At his first trial for Jason Magri Tristan Cannon clocked a blistering 22.30 over 400m at Bulli and has not looked back since.
"I almost sold the dog a short while back for $15,000 because I was building a house and needed some cash.
"Jason reckoned that was too cheap but my friend Matt Wiseman came up with $10,000 and took a half share in Tristan Cannon.''
The JODIE Lord-trained Champion Model's 14 wins from 28 starts include the Canberra and Goulburn Cups and she will be out to complete the country cups hat-trick at Bulli.
But Lord believes Lucky Chap, who has been in Victorian trainer Anthony Azzopardi's care, could be her best prospect.
"I trained him for his first nine starts, then he went to Anthony but after he was injured in September Lucky Chap came back to me,'' Lord said.
"He is flying again and won first up over 400m at Bulli on January 22 in the fast time of 22.46 and will be cherry ripe for the Gold Cup heats.''
Lord plans to also enter Zambora Cross and Rohan Hill, winners of 24 and 16 races respectively, for Saturday's Cup heats.
Trainer Donna Campbell is rarely without a starter in major big track races and she will have Big Black, a winner of six from 13 Bulli appearances, in the Gold Plate.
"Depending on how he pulls up after racing at Bulli on Saturday. Time Lee Money will also be an Gold Cup entry,'' Campbell said.
Time Lee Money won at Bulli last week and has posted a near record 24.64 over 440m on the similar Goulburn circuit, but Campbell remains unsure if he is ready to take on Group 2 class.
The Bulli Gold Cup final will be run over 472m on Saturday, February 24, and is worth $40,000 to the winner.
