There’s no place quite so desperate as the old last chance saloon.

Tonight, as Victorian harness racing’s Summer of Glory continues at Melton’s Tabcorp Park, six solemn standardbreds will frequent said saloon – and it’s called the Casey Classic.

From a literal, nine runners will lock horns in the Group 2 contest which doubles as the final audition for next week’s Hunter Cup.

One combatant however, Love In A Chevy, is almost certainly tackling the contest as a final hit-out before next week’s Mercury 80 Final, while two - Expensive Ego and Triple Eight - are Hunter Cup locks before the mobile rolls.

And therein lies the problem for the half-dozen runners wanting to make an impression this evening – Expensive Ego and Triple Eight.

Particularly Expensive Ego.

There were moments during Sydney’s recently-staged Inter Dominion series – several moments – where Belinda McCarthy’s budding megastar appeared utterly bottomless.

Like, Lochinvar Art at his best bottomless.

Such is the nature of extreme expectation that narrow failures in the ID final and last week’s Ballarat Cup have tempered his previously exploding air of invincibility.

But by any measure, tonight’s Casey Classic looks his for the taking.

And if that is the case, how do his rivals further their Hunter Cup cause?

Selecting fields for Grand Circuit contests throughout Australasia is a thankless business, and Hunter Cups are perhaps the toughest of all.

Traditionally speaking, and this year should be no exception, seven or eight, perhaps even nine runners simply pick themselves.

That leaves three remaining players.

Perhaps best placed to strengthen their case for selection from tonight’s Casey Classic runners is Western Sonador.

Despite potentially being slightly short of his best this campaign, Steve O’Donoghue and Bec Bartley’s two-time Group 1 placegetter was back to near his best in the Shepparton Cup.

Should he split Expensive Ego and Triple Eight, it’s very possible his stop at the last chance saloon will be a fruitful one.

Racing fans, at least those with a genuine love of the sport, thrive on animals with untapped, unknown potential.

Captain Ravishing is one such animal.

Conceived and programmed to fill a gap once occupied by the Victoria Derby, the Group 1 VHRC Caduceus 3YO Classic will see its second-ever edition run and won at Tabcorp Park tonight.

And despite not being favourite for the short-course feature, all eyes will be on Captain Ravishing. Ahmed Taiba’s most exciting young star since the all-conquering Sushi Sushi.

A late bloomer, Captain Ravishing has had just two starts in his burgeoning career.

But the 1:52.5min mile rate he recorded at Melton last time out had tongues fairly wagging.

If he wins, Victorian harness racing will have unearthed its latest headline act.

If not, the mileage manifested from pure anticipation still won’t go to waste.

The opinions expressed in The Forum are those of the author and may not be attributed to or represent policies of Harness Racing Victoria, which is the state authority and owner of thetrots.com.au.