The first Midway Handicap has attracted a bumper field, including three horses from the Richard Litt stable.
The Midway Handicaps will become a regular fixture at Sydney Saturday meetings, but trainer Richard Litt is hoping to etch his name in the record books by capturing the inaugural edition.
The Warwick Farm horseman will saddle up three runners –Catapult, Wander and Sedition - and he regards all as genuine each-way chances.
The $100,000 races are open to eligible small and mid-sized Sydney and provincial stables and are aimed at offering them a chance to race for good prize money, without having to take on the might of the leading yards such as Chris Waller and Godolphin's James Cummings.
"Not having those sort of trainers in the race is obviously an advantage, even though we don't shy away from them," Litt said.
"I wouldn't say it's easier opposition but it does take a lot of horses out of play.
"It's a good advantage to a little stable and it's good for those horses that are around that benchmark and are competitive midweek, then they can have the opportunity to race for good prize money on a Saturday."
Both Catapult and Wander will tackle Saturday's 1100m sprint first-up, while Sedition goes in with one run under his belt.
Catapult ended his most recent campaign with back-to-back victories at Warwick Farm and is proven in the wet, as is Wander who is a two-time winner fresh.
"Catapult goes well, he handles soft ground, he's drawn well. He is carrying a bit of weight but we expect him to run well," Litt said.
"Wander is a mudlark, he absolutely loves the wet. He's first-up off two trials, he's drawn a bit tricky but he'll get back anyway and hit the line hard.
"Sedition will be right there. The only query with him is he doesn't love a wet track but it's 1100 and he's tough. He should still run a pretty good race.
"It wouldn't surprise me to see any of them pop up. They can all win a race like this on their day."
A full field of 14 plus four emergencies have accepted for the Midway Handicap with the Greg Hickman-trained Our Bellagio Miss opening favourite.
