The Victoria Cup is five days away, but we could know the result just after 7pm tonight.

Okay, it might not be quite that simple, but if King Of Swing snares a front row draw, the race could prove a one-act affair.

Not only is King Of Swing a champion, but there is a distinct lack of top level open-class talent in Victoria at the moment.

That was underlined when “adopted” Victorian, Amazing Dream, did all the work and still proved too good in the Kilmore Cup last Friday week.

And, with respect to improving “journeyman” Bulletproof Boy, that was one of the weakest Smoken Up Sprints we’ve seen at Bendigo last Saturday night.

This will be by the far the easiest of the four major races King Of Swing has contested in Victoria. His record is a 2020 Hunter Cup win, 2020 Victoria Cup second (to Lochinvar Art) and third in the Hunter Cup earlier this year (to Lochinvar Art and Alta Orlando).

What would the best version of Lochinvar Art beat this current batch of Victorian pacer's by? 

Even if King Of Swing draws wide on the front row, it’s hard to see why stand-in driver David Moran won’t be able to just work forward and get the lead. Josh Jenkins asked me on his podcast last week, who would hold out King Of Swing? Maybe Wolf Stride if Team Gath is happy with him, nothing else.

Even Amazing Dream would almost certainly sit on him. Her form has shown time and time again she’s not at her best in front for some reason. Even her connections openly admit it.

So, for the sake of the contest, let’s hope King Of Swing draws the back row.

King Of Swing sharpened-up for his hit-and-run Cup raid with a cosy 1min50.4sec mile win in a Menangle free-for-all last Saturday night.

The barrier draw for the Cup, Derby, Oaks and Group 1 Bill Collins Trotters’ Sprint are live on TrotsVision from 7pm tonight.

Ladies In Red is $1.30 pre-draw favourite for the Victoria Oaks final, but driver David Moran may jump ship.

Yes, Moran said he would wait for the barrier draw before choosing between Ladies In Red and the other heat winner, stablemate Beach Music.

"I haven't decided, the other filly (Beach Music) felt like a monster," Moran said.

Beach Music worked to the front early and toyed with her rivals in a 1min58.1sec mile rate for 2650m, ripping home in 55.4 and 27.3sec.

Ladies In Red had it even easier in front in the second heat and appeared to be cuddled to the line by Moran in a 1min59.1sec mile rate, closing in sparkling splits of 54.7 and 26.3sec.

But stablemate Joanna sat parked from the middle stages and kept coming at Ladies In Red to go down by just 1.7m.

Co-trainers Emma Stewart and Clayton Tonkin have said all along Beach Music and Joanna have the talent to beat Ladies In Red if barriers and luck in running went their way.

Let's see how the barriers land tonight.

The barrier draws also have the potential to reshape betting on the Victoria Derby finals.

Which of Major Moth, Act Now or American Dealer starts favourite in the Derby will almost certainly be decided by how the marbles fall tonight.

Emma Stewart and Clayton Tonkin flexed their muscle winning two of the three heats with Major Moth and Act Now, but American Dealer and Bondi Lockdown didn’t lose any admirers with their second and third placings behind the underrated Blitzern in the other heat.

Tonkin has repeatedly referred to Major Moth’s X-factor and versatility, so he gets my nod pre-draw.

But Act Now is airborne and clearly a different horse when he finds the marker pegs in front.

And American Dealer should be cherry-ripe after two runs back from a short spell and is due a decent barrier.

Bondi Lockdown shouldn’t be sold short, either.

Pure talent alone isn’t enough to take a horse right to the top these days.

We’ve known for a long time the sheer speed and potential Majestuoso possesses, but we’ve been waiting to see if he’d develop the versatility and ringcraft to maximise it.

That question was answered at Shepparton on September 17 and underlined at Bendigo last Saturday night.

The boy has become a man.

The patience and planning of Andy and Kate Gath has been rewarded and Majestuoso looks set for a fantastic next six months and probably a lot more.

Kate can now confidently use his speed more than once and drive him to “own” a race.

Next stop is the $50,000 Group 1 Bill Collins Trotters’ Sprint at Bendigo on Saturday night.

Then comes the NSW Inter Dominion and then a plethora of features, headed by the Great Southern Star, early next year.

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.