Chris Waller’s full house of runners for The Gong

Here is the field and barrier draw for the $1 million The Gong at Kembla on Saturday.

Osipenko is one of the leading chances in The Gong on Saturday. Picture: Grant Guy

Premier trainer Chris Waller will launch a five-pronged assault on the $1 million The Gong (1600m) at Kembla on Saturday.

This year will be the fifth running of the provincial venue’s biggest race of the year and Waller and James McDonald won the inaugural edition of the race in 2019 with Mister Sea Wolf.

Sydney’s leading trainer and jockey will team up again on Saturday with leading contender Osipenko which will start from barrier 10 while the stable’s other runners are New Mandate (barrier 8), Skyman (barrier 6), Waterford (barrier 2) and Wicklow (barrier 3).

* Mitch Cohen’s Blackbook: Osipenko ready for The Gong

Topweight this year is Matt Dunn’s quality performer Cepheus, a two-time spring feature race winner and Big Dance runner-up, which will start from barrier 4 with Nash Rawiller continuing his association with the imported galloper.

Group 1 winner Communist comes out of the Golden Eagle where he finished a respectable eighth, beaten less than three lengths by Japanese galloper Obamburumai. Barrier 5 is the start point for Communist and he’ll be ridden by Rachel King.

Local trainers Rob and Luke Price won The Gong in 2021 with Count De Rupee and their sole runner this year is Cuban Royale while the South Coast’s other representative is the Terry Robinson-trained Art Cadeau.

* Is the Horse of the Year ‘fight’ already over?

Here is the field and barrier draw for The Gong.

No. - Horse - Trainer - Jockey - Barrier - Weight

1 - CEPHEUS - Matthew Dunn - Nash Rawiller - 4 - 61kg

2 - NEW MANDATE - Chris Waller - Joshua Parr - 8 - 58.5kg

3 - OSIPENKO - Chris Waller - James McDonald - 10 - 58.5kg

4 - SURF DANCER - Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott - Tim Clark - 14 - 58.5kg

5 - SKYMAN - Chris Waller - Tom Sherry - 6 - 58kg

6 - KIRWAN’S LANE - John O’Shea - Sam Clipperton - 19 - 57kg

7 - PALMETTO - John Sargent - Koby Jennings - 12 - 57kg

8 - COMMUNIST - Michael Freedman - Rachel King - 5 - 56.5kg

9 - DETONATOR JACK - Ciaron Maher & David Eustace - Jason Collett - 9 - 56kg

10 - BANJU - Lyle Chandler - TBA - 20 - 55kg

11 - WATERFORD - Chris Waller - Regan Bayliss - 2 - 54.5kg

12 - WILD PLANET - Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes - Tyler Schiller - 1 - 54kg

13 - SPANGLER - Kris Lees - Dylan Gibbons (a) - 17 - 53kg

14 - ART CADEAU - Terry Robinson - Jett Stanley (a) - 7 - 52.5kg

15 - WICKLOW - Chris Waller - Jay Ford - 3 - 52.5kg

16 - CUBAN ROYALE - Robert & Luke Price - Brock Ryan - 13 - 52kg

17e - SUPERIUM - Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes - Zac Lloyd (a) - 18 - 52kg

18e - LOCH EAGLE - Kris Lees - Reece Jones - 16 - 52kg

19e - SUPER HELPFUL - Barbara Joseph, Paul & Matt Jones - TBA - 11 - 52kg

20e - I’VE BEAN TRYIN’ - Matthew Kelley - TBA - 15 - 54kg

The $300,000 The Warra is the main support race on Saturday’s program and a field of 15 runners will face the starter.

Topweight is Greg Hickman’s Eleven Eleven while the field also includes a host of proven stakes performers – Athelric, Malkovich, Cannonball, Dragonstone, Recommendation, Qucik Tempo and the veteran Group 1 winner Shelby Sixtysix.

The Kembla track was rated a good (4) at acceptance time. The rail will be in the true position on Saturday.

Saturday’s 10-race program commences at 12.20pm with the final event to be run at 5.55pm.

The Bureau Of Meteorology forecast for the Wollongong district is.

Wednesday – Partly cloudy. 25.

Thursday – Partly cloudy. 25.

Friday – Mostly cloudy. 25.

Saturday – Mostly cloudy. 25.

CLICK HERE to get the fields and free formguide for the Kembla meeting on Saturday.

Originally published as Chris Waller’s full house of runners for The Gong