Gloucester Park Harness Racing Chief Executive Officer Michael Radley said he was keen to see local drivers take on Australia-wide challengers in The Nullarbor next month.
"With Spirit Of St Louis named as a contender, I can't wait to find out whether his regular driver Jack Callaghan will travel to Perth or if Luke McCarthy will be in the driving seat," Michael said.
"Jack is a boom young gun and Luke is considered the best big race driver in Australia. I'm looking forward to seeing one or other of them over here.
"Cameron Hart is another outtanding young NSW driver who will hopefully make the trip across and drive the TABtouch runner, Betterzippit . He won the Inter Dominion last December on I Cast No Shadow and is only 24 years old.
"It is always hard for interstate and NZ drivers to come to Gloucester Park and compete against our best drivers like Gary Hall Jnr. He's the William Pike of harness racing, although his record is probably better because he's won three Inter Dominions, nine WA Pacing Cups and claimed a place in the Hall of Fame while still in his thirties."
Michael is also enthusiastic about the talented WA women drivers likely to match up against Australia's best, including Deni Roberts, Maddison Brown and Emily Suvaljko.
Emily guided potential Nullarbor contender Mighty Ronaldo to victory in this year's Fremantle Cup. Maddison has a strong affiliation with WA Pacing Cup and Pinjarra Cup winner Diego NZ.
Michael hopes to welcome Diego's New Zealand-based owners Syd and Shona Brown, along with other international visitors, to Gloucester Park for the big race.
"Recently a number of New Zealand owners have sent horses to race in WA rather than selling them to locals, horses like Diego, Minstrel and Himself, so I think we'll get strong international interest in The Nullarbor," Michael said.
"New Zealand has a great reputation for breeding harness horses and has produced most of our open class horses, like Magnificent Storm, but WA breeders are catching up.
"Lavra Joe is a star and shown he is up to the elite pacers. He and Mighty Ronaldo are both Perth yearling sale graduates and have had a great rivalry since they were two-year-olds.
"It's going to be a fantastic race."
Team Bond has a range of horses to choose from as Nullarbor contenders and Michael predicted they would wait and see which was in the best form before nominating one close to the race deadline.
