It might lack the glamour and indeed the profile of Melbourne's famous spring racing carnival but this weekend's 'Super Saturday' meeting at Flemington is right up there with the great racing days on the Australian calendar.
It is the only day besides Derby Day that more than two Group One races are run on the same day at Australia's most famous track and what three contrasting races they are.
The feature - the time-honoured Australian Cup run over 2000 metres at weight-for-age - is basically the autumn equivalent of the Cox Plate while the Australian Guineas for three-year-olds over 1600 metres so often unearths a future champion or the next super sire.
Then there is the mad dash and excitement of the Newmarket Handicap over 1200 metres down the Flemington 'straight six' - one of the toughest races to win and indeed to find the winner, as a punter, in Australia.
The Newmarket is also the only other race in Australia besides the Melbourne Cup that is capable of hosting 24 runners and while there is not a full field this year, it has still attracted a massive 19 starters.
But as far as finding a winner - well you could argue you would only have slightly less chance of winning Tattslotto!
The favourite is top weight All Silent on the back of the six-year-old gelding's perfect record at Flemington - four wins from four starts including a brilliant win over this same distance at weight-for-age in the Patinack Classic during last year's spring carnival.
However All Silent tailed off in a less than flattering workout at Flemington during the week and having drawn barrier 17 in the 19 horse field will be committed to going down the outside rail meaning if there is any bias towards the inside then he will be a risky betting proposition.
The obvious main dangers are Leon Corsten's brilliant Caulfield Guineas and Oakleigh Plate winner Starspangledbanner and David Hayes' Nicconi - who won the other Group One race down the Flemington straight six earlier in the autumn carnival the Lightning Stakes (1000 metres) at the end of January.
Outside the top three selections there are a host of runners that could surprise at big odds including many who could defy the fact that no horse in 93 years has won the Newmarket at their first run after a spell.
The most popular of these would be eight-year-old El Segundo, the 2007 Cox Plate winner who also ran a gallant fourth in last year's weight-for-age championship at Moonee Valley and is not renowned as a sprinter.
But El Segundo has raced well down the Flemington straight before and usually under much bigger imposts than the luxury weight of 56.5kg he will carry on Saturday as he attempts to win for the first time since his Cox Plate triumph of 2007.
At the other end of the age scale two three-year-olds also have a great chance of winning the race first-up in King Pulse and Trusting while other leading chances include surprise William Reid Stakes winner Turffontein, the Mick Price-trained Gran Sasso which loves the Flemington straight six while leading Victorian trainer Peter Moody, who can never be underestimated, has three top chances in Tickets, Wanted and Headway.
And for value in trifectas and first fours don't forget to include the underrated South Australian galloper Arinos which ran a magnificent second at 50/1 in the Oakleigh Plate.
The Australian Cup is only a marginally less difficult affair for punters but Shocking can emulate the feat of the great Makybe Diva five years ago by winning the Australian Cup after having won the Melbourne Cup the previous spring.
The Mark Kavanagh trained galloper is unbeaten in three runs at Flemington and goes into the race third-up after promising runs over the shorter distances of the Orr Stakes (1400 metres) and St George Stakes (1800 metres) earlier this campaign.
However there are a host of dangers including the Mick Price-trained pair of Heart of Dreams and Miss Maren, which ran second at this course and distance in the Group One MacKinnon Stakes in the spring, as well as the in-form David Hayes' trained three-year-old Extra Zero while proven weight-for-age gallopers Zipping, Zarita and 2008 Australian Cup winner Sirmione cannot be underestimated.
In contrast the Australian Guineas appears a race in three with hot favourite Denman - the son of the great Lonhro and grandson of the legendary Octagonal - aiming for a 10th win in 12 starts having dominated the lead-in races this autumn with his only genuine challengers appearing to be Lloyd Williams' untapped galloper Linton and Moody's exciting filly Set For Fame, which has drawn the inside barrier in the nine-horse field.
Goughy's gambles:
Australian Cup:
1. Shocking
2. Miss Maren
3. Extra Zero
Best roughie: Zarita
Newmarket Handicap:
1. King Pulse
2. Nicconi
3. Starspangledbanner
Best roughie: Arinos
Australian Guineas:
1. Denman
2. Linton
3. Set For Fame
Best roughie: Guru Bob