McIntosh is training Dubali while his regular trainer, Ian Symons, is away on holidays.

“Ian is a good mate of mine and asked me to take the horse while he went away,” McIntosh said.

“I know the horse quite well, I broke him in. 

“He will only be having one or two starts for me until Ian gets back.

“We had a talk before Ian went away and decided this race would suit the horse.

“He is a free running front runner and that is why we have put Paul King on him.

“Paul is a good rider and he excels on these front running stayers.”

McIntosh and Symons decided on the Stayers Cup as a goal after Dubali ran fourth over 2050m at Gunnedah on May 8.

“It was a really good run because the horse over raced for much of the trip yet he was only beaten a length,” he said.

“If Paul can get him to settle I think he will be hard to beat.”

The cup has drawn six runners but is quite an intriguing race with only one of these runners, Cher Cher Shark, having won at or beyond this distance.

She led all the way to win over 2600m at Gosford at her last start on May 12 in a field of only four runners and, ironically, was ridden by King on that occasion.

The Gosford-trained Peregrine will have another jockey change as the rejuvenated five-year-old aims for his third successive win in the Scone Equine Hospital Benchmark 55 (1500m).

Peregine, trained by Angela Davies, won his maiden at Muswellbrook on May 18 when ridden by Andrew Gibbons and followed that up by winning a Class 1 on the Beaumont track at Newcastle when ridden by Blaike McDougall.

Apprentice Rachel King takes over on Sunday with her 2kg claim a big help considering he has top weight of 61.5kg.

Peregrine went to Davies from Victoria where he had failed to win a race in 13 starts.

Yet, in four starts for Davies, he has a first up sixth at Wyong, a second at Taree and two wins to his credit.