The horse with the highest handicap racing scheduled for the the 1400 metre race is 10-year-old gelding, Carry Me, which is trained by Mount Isa’s Justin Bawden. 

Julia Creek trainers Tanya Parry and Kerry Krogh each have two horses accepted to race in the cup, while Cloncurry trainer David Smith brings in Your Way Or Mine. 

Bawden said that Carry Me will be ridden by jockey Pietro Romeo, who has been flown in from the Sunshine Coast to ride. 

“He’s ridden out west here before. At Caulfield he got a couple of winners,” Bawden said. “He was at Cunnamulla last week with three winners. He has a good strike rate for wins.” 

Carry Me weights 2.5 kilograms more than the next heaviest horse, Admiral Ruff, and last won a race in June, when it competed in the 1400 metre Benchmark 65 Handicap. 

Bawden said that the cup’s distance could be too far for Carry me. “I’m looking more for 1200 metres but he should still be competitive in the race, but we will have to see what happens on the day. 

“He is going alright, but the shorter distance suits him because he has only had a few starts and is always leading his races, but with a couple of hundred metres to go he sort of dies down a bit – it’s just fitness.” 

The trainer said Carry Me was getting to be older for a race horse, but he had not had a lot of starts for his age. “He is still keen to race. As long as he is still willing to get on the track and race. I have just got to get him fit.” 

Carry Me was among the six horses that Bawden was bringing to Camooweal to race, and Romeo will ride four of them. “I hope he can get a few wins and I hope it will entice him to come out again at some point," Bawden said. 

Camooweal Jockey Club secretary Shelly Hawkins said she was satisfied with the 36 racehorses accepted across the five races. 

“The Cup from what I can see looks like a pretty good field,” she said. 

The crew had been replacing sand on the track to ensure it was in good condition for racing. “The track always needs some work but it always comes up well. It’s coming up really well.” 

Mrs Hawkins expected up to 500 attendees to walk through the gate based off the figures in previous years.

“It’s a really big event for the community as well and for the town. The Camooweal Drovers run the same weekend so it brings a lot of outside visitors to the town and the area. It’s one of the most important weekends for Camooweal.

“It’s good for the young crowd to be able to have a weekend out and let their hair down.”