Swan Hill trainer Nathan Hobson has developed a strong affinity with The Hotham in Ballarat.
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So much so that it would not be The Hotham without a Hobson runner.
Hobson had Sathern in the inaugural running of the rich maiden in 2017 and won with Henry's Affair in 2018.
He had fourth and fifth last year with All The Wine and Night Whisper.
This time his colours will be carried by Equinex on the synthetic track on Friday.
Hobson does not leave his hopes of winning The Hotham, which is this year again worth $75,000, to chance.
His stable endeavours to find the right horse and this season is no exception.
Hobson's brother Ashley pruchased Equinex with The Hotham, 1200m, specifically in mind.
The seven-year-old gelding has raced 40 times for seven placings.
"He's had a couple of jump-outs and gone okay, but he hasn't exactly set the world on fire.
"But neither has anything else in the field, so you never know," Hobson told the Sportsbet blog.
"I'm wrapt to have Hotham runner again. It's a great concept and there's nowhere else that battlers can race for this amount of prizemoney."
The Hotham attracted a capacity field of 14 starters, plus four emergencies, but with the meeting being transferred from the turf circuit to the Polytrack the number of runners will be reduced to 12.
Racing Victoria announced the change of racing surface late on Thursday after consulting with Ballarat Turf Club.
An inspection of the turf track by stewards today found that a section past the winning post was unsuitable for racing after 20mm of rain in 24 hours and significant rainfall over the past few weeks.
With rain continuing to fall on Tursday and more forcast, stewards did not believe the impacted section of the track would improve sufficiently for racing.
As well as the change in field sizes, two race distance have been changed.
All scratchings have been reinstated with trainers having until 7:30amon Friday to scratch their horses.
Torquay trainer Bryce Stanaway has the biggest representation with three starters - 5yo Pacific Crest, 6yo Takahe and 9yo Costano Mille, which has been a regular in the race. She finished unplaced in 2017 and second last year.
Costano Mille has not been placed in 25 starts since being runner-up The Hotham, with four fourths being her best finishes.
She is a the most experienced in the field with 116 starts for nine seconds and four thirds.