I've heard nothing but rave reviews from trainers and owners that have been to previous cups and I can't wait to experience the carnival for myself.

Unfortunately I haven't got a runner in the $180,000 feature after Dreams Of Paris went amiss.

But I have nine runners today and 55 owners coming from interstate to watch their horses.

So hopefully I can train a winner or two and tip everyone the winner of the cup.

Finding the winner of the Albury Cup is no easy task with another quality field set to contest the lucrative feature which is a credit to the Albury Racing Club and its committee.

The early markets have Emperors Way as the $4.20-favourite ahead of the highly-touted Ambitious at $5.50.

This gives the impression of being one of the most open cup in years - and I'd have to agree.

To win almost any race you need still need to get your fair share of luck in running.

But I can see luck and tactics being crucially important in this years cup which half-a-dozen of the main fancies could win without surprising.

It looks that even that it could come down to the best ride being the difference.

It's one of those races where you could run the race five times and end up with five different winners.

The Ciaron Maher-trained Thunder Cloud was my original tip until it was scratched early yesterday.

After reassessing I have decided to stick with the class galloper in the race in Ambitious.

It has been well documented that he will have to defy history and break the modern day weight carrying record if successful in the feature.

But you only have to look at his performance to run third behind Comin' Through and Egg Tart in the group 1 Doomben Cup to see why he is one of the best credentialled horses to ever race at Albury.

He if brings that sort of form today he will win by a cricket pitch.

Ambitious carried 59-kilograms in the Doomben Cup and with the quality conditions of the Albury Cup only has to carry the 62-kilograms maximum.

I think the Freedman camp would be licking their lips knowing it is not a huge impost for a horse of his calibre.

The query is his form over the Melbourne spring carnival.

My spies tell me he had a slight injury after his second start in the spring and the stable decided to err on the side of caution and send him to the paddock.

I also think Ambitious is better suited to the NSW way of going and it wouldn't surprise me at all if he improved sharply on the spacious Albury track.

One thing about these Japanese stayers is they are tough and are also used to carrying big weights.

Being sired by Deep Impact is another plus in regards to lumping the big weight.

The fact that Freedman also missed his hometown Mornington Cup in favour of Albury also fills me with confidence although the Mornington feature is over 2400-metres.

The extra 400-metres looks unsuitable at this stage of his preparation and could be why the stable chose Albury instead.

When I trained at Mornington I wasn't that far away from the Freedman stable and they  boast a state-of-the-art training facility.

They are trained at Pinecliffe on the Mornington Peninsula and allows them to get a lot of miles into their horses legs.

So the 2000-metres second-up from a spell for Ambitious won't be a problem.

Freedman's have now had the horse for over 12 months and into his third preparation would now know the horse inside and out.

As for dangers, Emperor's Way is the favourite and will be hard to beat.

He has been a model of consistency and has the run of 2000-metres already under his belt.

Having his fifth start this preparation I expect him to be rock-hard fit.

What can I say about the Snowden's that everyone doesn't know?

Their horses are always placed well and no doubt the Albury Cup would have been on the radar for a while now.

A fortnight between runs is perfect and there is little doubt if Ambitious has any chinks in his armour - Emperor's Way is the horse to exploit them.

The fact Glyn Schofield is flying into ride him before the big Golden Slipper meeting in Sydney the following day is also a strong pointer to his chances.

The David Hayes-trained Valec is another with a winning chance.

The query for me though is the horse is yet to go to a level similar to some of the other imports in the race.

The fact his last win was in Adelaide in a restricted race also concerns me and lacks the quality of some of the other runners.

Almost Court and Taikomochi filled the placings in the Canberra Cup and are prominent in the betting market.

But I think there is a question mark on the form out of the race.

If you are looking for a roughie at big odds then have something each-way on Spunlago.

Spunlago simply didn't have any luck and can improve sharply on his home track with the cushy draw also in his favour.