Nonconformist will be one of two Victorian horses taking on the might of NSW in a feature race in Brisbane.
A field of 13 has accepted for the Group 1 Doomben 10,000 (2000m) on Saturday with 11 of those starters coming from NSW stables.
Bankers Choice, trained by Mike Moroney, and Grahame Begg’s Nonconformist will try to wrestle the trophy away from the past two winners Zaaki and Huetor, who are both engaged on Saturday.
Nonconformist flies to Brisbane on Tuesday with stablemates Cardinal Gem and Lunar Flare and Begg said he could not have the gelding in better shape after a gallop at Cranbourne on Monday.
“It’s too much to gallop them and then fly on the same day, but he came through the gallop in flying colours,” Begg said.
“I thought they would get a full field (16 runners). There were 35 horses left after the second acceptances, and they’ve ended up 13 horses in the field.
“They’ve also had a good bit of rain up there, but the forecast is for fine weather for the rest of the week so it shouldn’t be too bad.”
A first-up winner of the Group 2 Blamey Stakes (1600m) at Flemington in March, Nonconformist went on to finish eighth in the Group 1 Australian Cup (2000m) at Flemington before an unlucky fourth in the Listed Mornington Cup (2400m) last month.
Begg said Nonconformist had freshened up well since Mornington.
“He’s coming back from the mile-and-a-half back to the 2000 metres,” Begg said.
“This race is part of the plan of getting him to the Q22 (on June 10) and then he can have break.
“It’s about giving him a bit of seasoning. He’s never been away from home before. It’s just something that may be a spark for him as well.”
Cardinal Gem is also set to run on Saturday in the Group 2 BRC Sprint (1350m) as a lead-up to the Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap (1400m) at Eagle Farm on June 10.
Begg said he was sending Lunar Flare to Brisbane after her win in the Listed Andrew Ramsden Stakes (2800m) at Flemington on Saturday.
Lunar Flare won a Melbourne Cup ballot exemption with Saturday’s win.
“I’ve got the opportunity of putting her on the plane with the other two, so why not take advantage of the warmer weather up there,” Begg said.
“It’s only going to go south down here.”
