The Sydney Cup (Race 8) hasn’t attracted the greatest field of all time and thus presents a terrific opportunity for Darren Weir to claim a Sydney major with the lightly raced Big Duke.

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After requiring a protest to see off Our Century on Slipper day, the rising star needed no such concession when powering to victory in last Saturday’s Chairmans Handicap and the strength of that performance has seen him installed a dominant favourite for this.

Mindful of the fact that we’ll be chasing our tails after the great mare storms to victory, our traders have earmarked him as a worthy lay and we are inviting punters to come after us on ‘the Duke’.

Second pick Assign, from the same yard as Melbourne Cup winner Almandin, comes off a hard-fought win in the Neville Sellwood but looks a bit of a query at the two miles after finishing down the track in the big one at Flemington last year.

Instead, our traders are expecting a solid push to come for Penglai Pavilion, one of two runners for the Newmarket-based Charlie Appleby.

Appleby’s charges feasted on some of the local staying races last spring and it’s a telling sign that the stable have likened this gelding to Geelong Cup winner Qewy.

The camps’ other runner, Polarisation, had to be withdrawn from the Chairmans due to a minor leg problem but appears fit and ready to take his place on Saturday.

Of the others, Who Shot TheBarman has been aimed at this race all along and shouldn’t be discounted while our traders are also expecting Almoonqith to perform far more capably than his odds indicate.

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