Chris Waller will rely on Beyond Thankful as his lone runner in the Wyong Gold Cup, a race he has made his own since emerging as Sydney’s premier trainer.
Waller has won four of the past five editions of the $150,000 race, starting with Hawk Island in 2010.
The Verminator, Wazn and Multilateral have added to Waller’s haul with his sequence broken by the win of the Gai Waterhouse-trained Julienas in 2012.
Beyond Thankful will back up on Friday after finishing fourth to Magic Hurricane in the Premier’s Cup at Rosehill.
Waterhouse will have two runners including the topweight The Offer (62kg) which returned to winning form in the Rowley Mile at Hawkesbury when first-up since an unsuccessful cameo during the Queensland winter carnival.
She will also be represented by Cafe Society, a well-performed import which finished third to Australia’s latest weight-for-age star Contributer during last year’s Royal Ascot carnival.
Fifteen runners accepted for the Listed race but Orion Love has been scratched after she was also paid up to run at Randwick.
The John O’Shea-trained Havana Cooler will be one of the favourites after he made a luckless Australian debut at Rosehill last month.
After racing a long way off the leader, Havana Cooler found the line generously after being held up until well into the straight before finishing a half length behind Beyond Thankful in sixth place.
Orbec was beaten a lip in the same race when stepping out in Australia for the first time for trainer John Thompson.
