Victorian raiders will play a huge role again when New Zealand takes centre stage this week.

Almost $NZ2 million will be up for grabs across Cambridge’s Night of Champions on Friday with the two “majors” being the $NZ1 million Race by betcha and the $NZ600,000 TAB Trot.

Aussie's will get to enjoy showcased coverage of the huge night with TrotsVision to again beam Trackside’s coverage, headlined this year by Brittany Graham.

Victorians dominated the inaugural running of the TAB Trot last year, finishing top four. Just Believe beat Callmethebreeze, Queen Elida and Arcee Phoenix.

With Just Believe retired and Callmethebreeze recovering from foot issues, it will be left to Arcee Phoenix, Queen Elida and Im Ready Jet to try and give Victoria back-to-back wins.

Throw in NSW’s The Locomotive and Queenslander Not As Promised and Australia will have five of the eight runners.

Against that, the three Kiwis are stars at varying stages of their career: Bet N Win, Oscar Bonavena and Muscle Mountain.

Queen Elida and Im Ready Jet being mares means they will start from gates one and two (the exact order yet to be determined) under the preferential conditions.

It certainly helped Queen Elida run third in what was undoubtedly a stronger race last year.

And there's a feeling in the Im Ready Jet team that's she's "in the zone" at just the right time after two impressive wins this campaign.

While Victoria has the numbers, Inter Dominion winner The Locomotive looks Australia’s top hope.

Where The Locomotive and Arcee Phoenix draw in comparison to the likes of Bet N Win and Oscar Bonavena will be pivotal.

The barrier draw “reveal” – for the TAB Trot and Race by betcha - will be shown live on Cambridge Harness Racing Club’s Facebook page at 5.30pm tomorrow (Tuesday).

Adding further to the Victorian flavour on the night, Kate Gath, who is heading over to drive Im Ready Jet, will also contest the Dorothy Cutts Invitational (race seven) for female drivers. Queensland’s Trista Dixon, who plays such a huge role with Leap To Fame, will be in the race, too.

While Aussies (or Victorians to be precise) dominated the inaugural TAB Trot, the Kiwis have won all three runnings of the Race by betcha (formerly Race by Grins).

That said, there hasn’t been a lot of Aussie pacing star power tackle the race so far.

Of the seven runners across the three years the Race by betcha has been run, Majestic Cruiser’s second in 2022 is the best result. Better Eclipse ran fourth in 2023 and fifth last year.

It all changes this year with champion Aussie pacer Leap To Fame heading across.

The six-year-old will finally race in NZ for the first time after two aborted trips for the Race by betcha and NZ Cup last year.

As if that wasn’t exciting enough for fans on both sides of the ditch, having Don Hugo join him is huge.

“Leap To Fame and Swayzee are out-and-out champions and have been at the top for 18 months or so, but to have Don Hugo come out of the pack to challenge them is great for me and exciting for the sport,” Don Hugo’s trainer-driver Luke McCarthy said.

“We’ve proven we can beat Leap To Fame now and it gives you confidence going into any race with him (Don Hugo). I can’t wait for the race.”

With respect to the locals, it will be a shock if Leap To Fame or Don Hugo don’t give Australia its first win in the race.