If Goulburn trainer Kurt Goldman wins the Goulburn City Cup on Sunday, he'll dedicate it to Guy Walter and Nathan Berry, who teamed up to win last year's edition with Any Day Will Do.
Goldman has three runners in the 1600-metre cup, including the 2013 listed Canberra Cup-winner Court Connection.
Originally from Kembla, Goldman took over Danny Williams' stables at Goulburn in January and he said Walter, who had a stable there, had helped him settle in.
Both Walter and Berry died earlier this year, sending shock waves through the racing community and Goldman said he wanted to win the cup in honour of the pair.
The race before the cup has been named in Walter's honour.
"[Walter] helped me quite a bit when I first moved to Goulburn ... and he actually won the Goulburn Cup last year; Nathan Berry rode his horse," Goldman said.
"It's something that I'd love to be able to win in memory of those two guys.
"It's quite sad really - 12 months later they're both not with us. If we can go out there and hopefully win the race it would be nice for everyone involved."
Goldman said the cup had been Court Connection's target for a while and he'd also go after the Canberra, Albury and Wagga Wagga cups in the autumn.
That was the plan earlier this year as well, but a few niggling injuries ruled the son of Lonhro out of defending his Canberra Cup, which was won by Walter with Jacquinot Bay.
Goldman said his eight-year-old gelding was now fully fit and he was confident of him running a good race.
"I always targeted this race for Court Connection ... I think ideally these country cups are probably the right direction for him to head, with Canberra, Albury, Wagga, those sort of things," he said.
"We tried to do it last year, but unfortunately he just had a few little niggling injuries. But since his spell he's come back fit, healthy and sound. As long as we can keep him going, he'll definitely be aimed at those sort of cup races."
Goldman also has Faust and Kazoom running in the cup.
He felt both Faust and Court Connection were genuine chances, although Faust's barrier might give him the edge.
"I think Faust is going to get the run of the race. He's drawn [barrier] one, he's adaptable, he can be on speed, he can take a sit and he's got his regular jockey [Sam Clipperton] back on, which is a big bonus," Goldman said.
"He probably ticks a couple of extra boxes than Court Connection."
Goldman had Kazoom nominated for Kensington on Saturday, but he opted to keep him at his home track where he doesn't get "stirred up".
"He's a horse that's definitely on the up. He has more than enough ability to be racing in this field, although he's not weighted very well I think he'll definitely put a good race in on Sunday and probably be pretty hard to beat I'd imagine," he said.
