Kyle Marshall and a team of three horses will embark on an almost 600-kilometre round trip between Cranbourne and Stawell this Sunday.

The Ecycle Solutions Stawell Pacing Cup Final looks to be a very competitive event, with the Michael Stanley-prepared Rudy Gee likely to start favourite from barrier two.

The Marshall-prepared versatile gelding Hugo Maguire has drawn barrier six for the day's $20,000 feature.

“I’m quite excited to race at Stawell on Sunday,” Marshall said.

“We have Hugo Maguire in in the Stawell Cup. He ran at Cranbourne first-up and made a lot of ground out wide.

“It seems to be pretty hard for horses at Cranbourne to make that sort of ground, so I’m rapt with him first-up. He’s taken big improvement out of that.

“Over the 2600-metre trip, I think he will like that distance. It’s a tricky draw (barrier six), so hopefully there will be a few scratchings inside of us.

“We will make a game plan up on Sunday. I think we can maybe go forward as he has the gate speed. Or if we choose to go back and go around them at some stage, we will work it out.”

Joining Hugo Maguire on the journey will be stablemates Yogi Son and Ruebe Starbuck.

Yogi Son is stepping out in race two - the Gift Hall Of Fame Museum Trot - where he has drawn barrier eight.

“Yogi Son needs to do everything right to be in it - hopefully he trots. He has just come to me from Brent Lilley’s, but he was happy with him,” Marshall said of his highly-talented but sometimes unreliable trotter when it comes to manners.

Ruebe Starbuck put on an impressive display at Cranbourne on November 17, powering away from her rivals to claim a dominant 17-metre victory. She will return to the track in the final event at Stawell, the Chris N Di's Bakery Pace.

"Ruebe Starbuck won really good fresh-up. Her work since has been super, and I think the penny has dropped with her. She’s got a tricky draw (eight), so it will all depend on luck. If we can get gaps when it counts, I’m sure she’ll take them with the force of lightning."

The action-packed card at Stawell also features the NGSC The Maori Legend and the Wimmera Mallee Vets Stawell Trotters Cup.

The twilight meeting kicks off with the first race at 3.52pm.

 

PHOTO ABOVE: Hugo Maguire provided by Sophie Jefferies