The rescheduled Canberra Southern Cross Club Tuggeranong Cup (1600m) has once again attracted a full field plus emergencies, with 18 horses currently in contention to be crowned the first winner of the newly introduced race.
Todd Smart's Loose Love represents one of the key local chances and will be sweating on a scratching after being designated the first emergency.
The son of Turn Me Loose (NZ) has been knocking on the door of his third career victory after back-to-back placings and Smart is buoyed by his gallopers form.
"He is going to be hard to beat." Smart said. "He's in the field at Orange too which is a weaker race but we'd definitely rather be racing him here on his home track."
"We will wait until the morning to see who comes out of each race in the morning before making our decision but the horse goes so well here on his home track."
Loose Love has drawn softly on Friday in Barrier 2 with James Innes Jnr engaged for the ride.
"I think he'll land just behind the speed, hopefully in the first four and the way he's been racing he should be right in it with the right run."
In another strong TAB Federal (1300m), Scott Colling's London Gal enters after a 4-length rout at Goulburn a month ago.
A mare by Sizzling, London Gal is certainly a form horse and after winning by a similar margin back in 2021, she was able to secure a TAB Highway (1000m) win the next start in impressive fashion.
London Gal has drawn Barrier 7 and will partner with Jeff Penza, who currently leads the Canberra Jockeys Premiership on 18 wins for the 2022/2023 season.
Albury visitor Baledon looks another strong hope in the TAB Federal and will look to return to the form that saw him finish fourth in the SDRA Country Championships Qualifier.
The Ron Stubbs-galloper is another TAB Highway (1400m) winner and will carry the top weight of 61kgs underneath Josh Richards on Friday.
