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By Ray Hickson

It’s highly unlikely trainer Todd Payne will target the Big Dance with Lisztomania if the in-form gelding happens to win Thursday’s $200,000 Tamworth City Toyota Tamworth Cup (1400m).

The Inverell trainer has one goal for his Country Championships runner-up, who was grabbed in the final strides by Know Thyself, and that’s the $2 million The Kosciuszko (1200m) on TAB Everest Day.

If he turns up on Big Dance day at Randwick it’ll be in the country only Barn Dance over the 1300m.

“He’s had one go at a mile when he was a three-year-old at Grafton, it’s not beyond him,’’ Payne said.

“But if we did win the Tamworth Cup and we’re eligible for the Big Dance it’s hard to target that too.

“I’d rather go to the Barn Dance on the same day, it’s three weeks after the Kosciuszko and that’s the main aim.”

As he did when runner-up in the Hunter & North West Country Championships at Tamworth in early March, the six-year-old will jump from the outside barrier in the Cup where he was $5 second favourite with TAB on Tuesday.

Payne said he will also accept for a 1200m Benchmark 78 at Randwick on Saturday and weigh the options but the two hour travel time to Tamworth and 9m rail in Sydney are tempting him to stay local.

“He’s jumping out of his skin, that’s why we are going again,’’ he said.

Lisztomania runs second in the Country Championships Final

“All the travelling he does and he keeps fronting up, if he went off you’d know straight away.

“Back to 1200m and the rail is out at Randwick, that’ll make it very hard to make ground you’d think. Tamworth is two hours down the road and not eight but we’ll have a look at both.”

Jockey Luke Rolls is back on Lisztomania at Tamworth after Tim Clark rode him in the Final and he definitely cheered the gelding on when he looked the winner halfway down the straight.

While he was able to sit a lot handier from barrier six in the Final, Rolls said he’d probably prefer to be where he is on the outside than have to ride for luck around the tighter track.

“Tamworth has been racing down the middle of the track lately so it’s probably more to his advantage and he’s not a horse you want to go inside horses,’’ Rolls said.

“He wants to get to the outside and he lets down better.

“They went at a real slow tempo (in the qualifier) and he was forced wider and wider and the way he hit the line was incredible.

“I thought he was home at the 200m in the Country Championships but he was beaten by a really good horse.”

What many might not realise about Rolls is that he has a Group 1 placing to his name from only one ride at the top level – it was as an apprentice in the 2009 Galaxy on Gold Trail and he filled third behind Nicconi after being in front at the 100m.

All the fields, form and replays for Thursday’s Tamworth meeting