Not even horrid barrier draws for his three runners in The Kosciuszko could knock Cody Morgan off his perch.
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It is the 34-year-old's debut in the $1.3 million Royal Randwick race over 1200 metres - and he intends to savour it.
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Having arrived in Sydney at the start to week in order to give his horses the best chance on Saturday afternoon, Morgan was in high spirits when he spoke to the Leader on Friday.
"I've been doing this since I was 15, and doing nothing else but racing ... this is the biggest day of my career tomorrow [Saturday]," he said.
"Obviously drawn bad barriers. But just to be in the race is great."
When the Leader spoke to Morgan on Tuesday, before the barrier draws, Ligulate and Ice In Vancouver were equal fifth at $15 in betting while Anethole was at $26.
On Friday, Ligulate and Ice In Vancouver were at $23 and $13, respectively, and Anethole remained at $26.
Ligulate, Ice In Vancouver and Anethole will start from barriers 11, 12 and 14, respectively, in the 14-horse field.
"We'll be doing our best," Morgan said, "but we've drawn three of the four widest gates in the race against the 14 best country horses in the state. So they're sort of up against it."
Morgan rates Ligulate as his best chance based on his better barrier draw than Ice In Vancouver and Anethole, his big-race experience and his "big, strong" body.
"I think he's a lot better chance than the market would suggest," the young trainer said.
Morgan has the most runners in The Kosciuszko - which he described as "very humbling".
Every horse in the world's richest race for country-trained racehorses was nominated by a winner of The Kosciuszko sweepstakes, who share in the prize money of their nominated horse.
"For the phone to ring, you think, 'You're doing something right,'" Morgan said. "And there's a retired man that bought $20 worth of tickets to get Ligulate.
"To think we're in charge of a horse that could possibly buy him a house tomorrow afternoon [Saturday] ... That's probably the most special thing about it all."
The Brett Cavanough-trained It's Me was the $2.20 favourite.
The meeting will be headlined by the $15 million TAB Everest (1200m) - the world's richest turf race.
