Local trainer Neil Dellar will lock horns with Peter Fernie and rising star Nick Thomas in Sunday’s $22,000 City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder Mayoral Cup (1100m) at Kalgoorlie-Boulder Racing Club.
The Dellar-trained Double Spice on Friday emerged as a $3.50 favourite on TABtouch from barrier two after the gelding ran second to the Luke Fernie-trained Man Crush over 1200m at Belmont two runs ago.
Austin Galati takes the ride on the six-year-old.
Thomas-trained Hilton ($3.70) is the second-favourite from Talk It Up which at $3.90 leads Peter Fernie’s cup hopes alongside stablemate Dunbar ($6).
Fiorucci Mama for Daniel and Ben Pearce also came in at $6.
Hilton, who has drawn barrier seven, is two runs back from a spell since winning last year’s $22,500 Vines V’s Goldfields Golf Challenge Sprint (1300m).
Dunbar, with the in-form Clint Johnston-Porter aboard, jumps from barrier one.
Fernie has three chances in the $22,000 Kalgoorlie-Boulder Airport/Gateway To the Goldfields Handicap (1100m) in a field that includes Talk Softly ($7.50), trained by well-known former local Robbie Payton.
Payton played 201 senior games for Railways in the Goldfields Football League before turning his hand to training.
In 2014, Payton was among three former Goldfields football stars — alongside ex-Railways teammate Brett Armstrong and Boulder’s Paul Jackson — who shared in $145,000 first place prizemoney with Cadenza’s victory in the $250,000 Magic Millions Perth Two-Year-Old Classic (1100m) at Ascot.
Sunday’s seven-event card starts at 12.20pm.