Maher is the only hometown trainer with Cha Cha King.

He is hopeful of a big run from the five-year-old.

“I brought him in especially to run in the Cup, but he had a bit of a hiccup last week, he got scratched at the gate at Bendigo,” Maher said.

“That put him a run behind, but I talked to the owners and they wanted him to run, so we decided to roll the dice on him.”

The Bendigo race would have been the gelding’s second run back from a 15-week spell.

“He can be a bit fresh in the gates and play up a bit and he got a little scratch on him,” Maher said.

Cha Cha King has posted four wins in his 14 starts, claiming $64,000 in prizemoney.

Prior to his spell, his second at Corowa on July 4 was sandwiched between wins at Wodonga (June 17) and Wagga (July 18).

Maher sits second for Cup wins with four, behind Brian Cox (11).

“There’s probably six or seven who go really well, that (Matt) Ellerton and (Simon) Zahra’s Linguist is one, it’s probably a bit more depth than the last couple of years,” he said.

“That Hot Ruby (Luke Oliver) would be another chance.”

Hot Ruby finished fourth over 1700m at Flemington on Melbourne Cup day, while Linguist grabbed a win at the same track and same distance on Oaks Day.

Wangaratta trainer Dan McCarthy is eyeing the Cup as the platform to launch Pittsburgh into more lucrative races in Melbourne next year after overcoming a tendon injury as a two-year old.

The Ledger stable in Wangaratta, meantime, will look for Frankly Harvey to bounce back after battling in the Country Series on Oaks Day.