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By Chris Scholtz

Lightweight Sydney jockey James Innes Jnr will make this week the best of his career if he can win Friday’s $180,000 Albury Gold Cup for the Gai Waterhouse/Adrian Bott stable.

Innes, the son of former leading Sydney rider Jamie Innes, has been entrusted with the Albury Cup ride on the lightly-raced 5YO Taikomochi, giving him the opportunity to win his second country feature race in a week for the Waterhouse/Bott team.

On Sunday Innes landed the 200th win of his career when he rode Chocolatier to an all the way win in the Bathurst Cup for Waterhouse and Bott.

James Innes Jnr rides in Friday's Albury Gold Cup. Credit: Bradley Photos.

His reward is the ride on stablemate Taikomochi in Friday’s Listed Commercial Club Albury Cup (2000m), the richest country cup race in NSW and an event Waterhouse has been striving to win for more than a decade.

It will be the first time Innes has ridden at Albury and would give the young jockey the richest win of his career that began as an apprentice at Randwick in the 2012-13 season.

It would also be only his third win in a black type race, having previously won the G3 Ming Dynasty Quality on Danawi at Randwick in 2018 and the Listed Stayers Cup on Plot Twist at Rosehill in 2017.

Waterhouse has made numerous attempts to win the Albury Cup over the last 15 years but has been frustrated by a series of minor placings. Her best results have been last year’s second with Supply And Demand, a third placing with Hippopus in 2016 and fourth with Queenstown in 2015.

She should be confident about Taikomochi’s chances on Friday after the gelding’s last start second to Samadoubt in a strong Canberra Cup (2000m) on March 10 when he was having only his second start after a long spell of 10 months.

Canberra Cup third Almost Court and fifth placed Green Sweet – winner of the Albury Cup in 2017 – are also set to join Taikomochi in Friday’s field.

Fellow Randwick trainers Peter and Paul Snowden are also seeking a first Albury Cup win after confirming a start for their consistent gelding Emperor’s Way.

Crack Sydney jockey Glyn Schofield has retained the ride on Emperor’s Way after riding the 5YO at his latest start at Randwick on March 9 when he finished a close third behind Hiyaam and Shraaoh in the Listed Randwick City Stakes over 2000m.

Peter Snowden first targeted Albury's premier race when he was head trainer for Sheikh Mohammed’s Darley stable but his only two starters, Peck in 2013 and Kukri in 2014, both finished seventh.

Albury Racing Club received 24 nominations for the Albury Gold Cup with the Anthony Freedman-trained Japanese import Ambitious heading the weights with 62kg.

Other Victorian entries include the classy Lindsay Park pair So Si Bon and Valac, the Ciaron Maher/David Eustace stablemates Age Of Fire and Thunder Cloud and the in-form Prince Ziggy from the Jamie Edwards stable.

Ambitious, a Group 2 winner in Japan, has had eight starts in Australia without a win but was placed in last year’s Tancred Stakes and Doomben Cup at Group 1 level.

He has raced once in Melbourne since a spell and could race at Albury to make up for missing a start at Rosehill last Saturday when he was scratched from the Sky High Stakes because of the heavy track.

Anthony Freedman trained the 2016 Albury Cup winner Tom Melbourne in partnership with his brother Lee and also prepared the 2017 runner-up Cool Chap.

Final acceptances for the 2019 Commercial Club Albury Gold Cup will be taken at 9am on Wednesday.

Check out the nominations for Albury Cup Day on Friday