Some of the biggest names in Australian racing could be on show at Wellington Race Club this weekend.
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Nominations for Sunday's bumper Wellington Boot meeting were released on Tuesday morning and it's shaping as another star-studded event at the picturesque country track.
Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott, Peter and Paul Snowden, Bjorn Baker, and Gary Portelli were among the 31 nominations for the $2000,000 Wellington Boot two-year-old feature event.
On top of that, Melbourne Cup-winning jockey-turned-trainer Michelle Payne and leading provincial horsewoman Kim Waugh put forward chances for the $100,000 Wellington Cup (1700m) while there was strong numbers for other feature events like the Wellington Town Plate (1100m) and KFC Zinger (900m) sprint.
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The carnival will begin with a meeting on Friday, before all eyes turn to the Boot on Sunday.
One of the many trainers eyeing Boot glory is defending champion Damien Lane.
The Coonamble product, who now leads a strong stable at Wyong, won last year's Boot with Sonnet Star and he has nominated Jackyy Dee for the 2022 edition of the feature.
Lane is in for a busy weekend as he also has chances nominated for Rosehill, Port Macquarie and Wyong on Saturday, but he'll still be making the trip west for both Wellington meetings.
"To be honest, I have a lot more fun going to those kinds of places than I do going to Randwick," Lane said.
"It's just a great atmosphere, those country carnivals.
"We always try to make sure we've got a runner at those places and those days are great to be a part of."
The Boot nominations are loaded with stars of the future.
The Snowden team put forward three chances, including the hugely exciting Sheeza Belter.
Previously trained in Western Australia, Sheeza Belter won the $250,000 Listed Magic Millions WA Two-Year-Old Classic (1200m) last month for previous trainer Luke Fernie and that helped earn her a move east.
Also among the Boot hopefuls was the Waterhouse-Bott hope Sweet Baby Boom and Portelli's debut winner, Spinosaurus.
There was also a number of country hopes, with Clint Lundholm the lone Dubbo chance after nominating Raging Rush.
Raging Rush ran seventh on debut in the recent Boot Prelude at Coonamble, a race won by the Lyle Chandler-trained Last Bid Liam.
That result took Last Bid Liam's record to two wins from five starts and Sunday's feature is also his next target.
Lane's Jackyy Dee ran fourth in the Prelude but the trainer is confident there's plenty more to come.
"He was quite green in his trial and his first run the other day. He was a bit hesitant taking runs," Lane said.
"He's probably won that really needed two trials before he went to the races but if we did that we would have had to try to get into the Boot as a first-starter.
"I think he would have learnt more from the trip to Coonamble and racing than he would have from another trial anyway. He seems to have come up nice since then."
Lane also nominated the in-form Buckin' Beauty for the $100,000 Town Plate.
Final fields for Sunday will be released on Thursday.
Close to $750,000 in prizemoney will be on offer across the carnival.
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