Scone-based pair Rodney Northam and Paul Messara are both represented, as is leading Riverina trainer Brett Cavanough.

But joining them on one of the biggest days of the Sydney racing calendar will be Gilgandra's Bruce Parker, whose contribution to racing over many decades will be rewarded when Yes Zariz heads out on to the track

The four-year-old qualified for the final after placing second in the Dubbo heat of the series on March 22, prompting popular race caller Colin Hodges to declare proudly that "Brucey Parker is off to Randwick".

Bruce Tenant Parker is 79 years old, lives at Gilgandra and trains out of the Castlereagh Park track.

He has a great big smile and wears a broad cowboy hat.

Bruce has trained horses at Gilgandra for more than 50 years and has also trained his share of apprentices, the most successful being Gold Coast hoop Chris Whiteley who did his apprenticeship under Bruce.

Whiteley won the WRA apprentice title back in the late 80s when he tied first with another young apprentice Greg Ryan only to lose out a month later when one of his rides returned a positive swab.

Bruce likes to be called 'Pop' and is married to wife Barb.

He is the father of four daughters, and claims to be "a great sire of fillies and mares".

He has 14 grandchildren and 21 great grandchildren and says "I can't remember all their names, as long as they remember mine".

Bruce conducts stable business from the Gilgandra Bowling Club which he refers to as the office.

The planning for Yes Zariz campaign started there back in October when the series was announced.

As well as training at Gilgandra, Bruce works as the Gilgandra Jockey Club's curator and looks after the racecourse.

He spends all week at the track, in a virtual volunteer capacity.

It is Bruce that fixes the plumbing, mows the track and moves the barriers around the course on race days.

He is a life member of the club and has a pin to prove it. Nobody could count the hours he has spent looking after the racecourse except perhaps Barb.

For Bruce Parker, Saturday will be a return to Sydney races, a place he hasn't ventured for more than 30 years.

Back in the mid 80s Bruce took his best horse Rajes Lover, who raced at Randwick and Canterbury without luck.

Rajes Lover won the Tamworth, Coonamble and Cowra Cups and a host of other races, and was a horse that could stay all day.

Raje, like Bruce, wasn't that keen on the big smoke. He wouldn't settle down there.

He preferred his stable back in Gilgandra, watching the Newell Highway and counting the cars and trucks as they went by.

Bruce always starts the day at the stables around 5.45am and averages around five horses in work at any one time.

He trains for family and friends, though it is family that provide most of the horses he trains.

Yes Zariz is a family horse.

He's a home bred, and daughter Robyn and her best friend Megan are 50 per cent of the ownership.

Robyn's son Adam and his mate Bill makeup the other half.

Adam is the syndicate leader. He is a quite bloke who loves his horses, and loves racing with 'Pop'.

Adam has led the Gilgandra Panthers rugby league pack around the field for the past 14 years, never taking a backward step and winning three premierships along the way.

Adding to the family flavour, Adam's youngest brother Kieren is Yes Zariz's strapper.

The best asset for team Yes Zariz is their jockey.

"Good jockeys make good horses," Bruce says.

Without leading country rider Greg Ryan they probably wouldn't be there.

Greg lifted Yes Zariz past third and into the final in the last stride in the Dubbo heat. A nose gave them their ticket to Randwick.

They are all great people, and that's the best thing about the Country Championships.

It will unearth a bunch of great people, bush people, genuine people, each with a story. Sydney is lucky they get the chance to meet them.

The connections of Yes Zariz are all dreaming of their opportunity in the big time. It may be a long shot but they have a ticket to the dance.

With Greg Ryan in the saddle, they're in with a show. With the support of all of Gilgandra, they have to be a hope.

If they happen to win, Pop will hide in the motel room but Sydney, look out for the rest of them.