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STEVE Turnbull is well and truly in the running to win the feature race at this year's Cowra Carnival of Cups with stablemates Yabba Dabba Do and Smiling Cullen set to go head-to-head in the $13,260 Tritech Cup (2100m) on Sunday.
The Cowra Paceway will host a nine race program with the cup headlining a massive day of country racing.
Turnbull said Cowra is somewhere he enjoys supporting and said it's always good to see pacing return to Cowra whenever possible.
"They're trying to get the interest back into the small country towns, Cowra used to be really strong for harness racing when I was young but it did slip away," he said.
With his daughter contesting two Group 1 races in New Zealand over the weekend, Turnbull will be absent from the Cowra meeting but will entrust his sons Mitch and Nathan as the reinsmen in the Cup.
Smiling Cullen has drawn the widest barrier in the second row while Yabba Dabba Do will begin five in from the pegs in the front.
"Nathan [Turnbull] will drive Yabba Dabba Do and Mitch [Turnbull] will drive Smiling Cullen," Turnbull said.
"Everything is good and going well [this week], they're both racing really well at the moment, I don't have any preferences."
One of the main threats to the Turnbull team will be Jim Clyburn's in-form four-year-old gelding Peggyville, which won the $10,000 Golden Gig in its last start during Dubbo's Carnival of Cups program two weekends ago.
Peggyville stormed home over the favourite to win by a half-head over the 2120m journey.
It would be a likely contender on Sunday along with the Bernie Hewitt-trained Katsidis which will have Canowindra's Mat Rue in the gig.
Katsidis has seven wins and another 14 minor placings from 44 starts for $45,480 in prize-money and the four-year-old gelding has a good chance of ballooning that figure this weekend.
Adding to the excitement on Sunday will be two Menangle Country Series Heats.
Races three and nine will see the top two from each race qualify for the final at Menangle on July 4.
Steve Turnbull will once again feature heavily and he hopes to score the quinella in race nine.
"Yep for sure, the country series heats are always popular and are good for country racing," he said.
Racing begins at 11.50am on Sunday with the Tritech Cup set for 3.19pm.