Will Freedman confident of strong showing from Cognac, Olympic Theatre at Bathurst Cup

Richard and Will Freedman have confidence that Cognac and Olympic Theatre will put in strong showings at this Sunday's Bathurst Cup (1,800 metres) after the pair didn't have much luck go their way at the recent Dubbo Cup.

The Freedman duo, along with 12 other contenders, are chasing a spot in the inaugural edition of the $2 million The Big Dance at Royal Randwick, which can be achieved with a top two finish in this weekend's $50,000 race at Tyers Park.

Those qualifying spots have led to a classy field making their way to the city for the Bathurst spring feature, and punters believe the Freedman pair are in with a great shot of making their presence felt.

Cognac ($4.60) is currently favourite while Olympic Theatre ($14) is touted as a solid outside chance.

Cognac, a six-year-old Invincible Spirit gelding, led the Dubbo Cup with 400m to go and battled home fairly, but finished just under two lengths away from winner Casino Kid.

Will Freedman is hopeful that the barrier six start at Bathurst means Cognac won't have to put in as work to settle towards the front half of the Bathurst Cup field.

"Cognac did a lot of work early and if you watch Olympic Theatre he was pretty luckless down the straight," he said.

"That early work Cognac had to do was just telling late in the race. I'd say that will be a pretty good form reference race, that Dubbo Cup. Casino Kid's no slouch.

"I'd expect Cognac to get in the first half of the field on his own accord and settle a little better. He's come a long way in the last few months, and if they don't get quite as much rain as they've forecasted - even still in the Heavy 8 - he'll run to form, that's for sure.

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"We were happy with the wide barrier at Dubbo because we thought he'd come across under his won steam but unfortunately it ended up being a high pressure 1,600m race and he ended up doing too much work."

Olympic Theatre, a five-year-old son of Mayson imported from Great Britain, is still on the hunt for his second Australian victory since arriving in the country last year.

He unfortunately couldn't find a path around Cognac down the home stretch of the Dubbo Cup

Finding win number two at Bathurst won't be the easiest of tasks out of the wide draw in barrier 16 but Freedman has been impressed by Olympic Theatre's work.

"The bad draw is somewhat a negative but he's flying at the moment. I certainly think his run in the Dubbo Cup was full of merit," he said.

"He's bred to get over, and has won, over 2,300m so the extra distance is not going to be any issue for him.

"Hindsight's a wonderful thing. If you could go back and replay from the 400 I'd say Adrian [Layt] might have elected to stay on the inside and he probably would have run in the first couple.

"He played the percentage to come out wide, and it's not everyday that you're frustrated when your stablemate takes your other horse's line of running.

"He was hardly tested down the straight, and the great thing about Olympic Theatre is that he handles all types of conditions."

The Bathurst Cup jumps from 4.48pm on Sunday.

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