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Champion trainers Chris Waller and Darren Weir have confirmed they will continue their battle for Group One honours in Perth with multiple runners in the $1 million Railway Stakes at Ascot on November 24.

Waller has been Australia’s leading Group One trainer by wins for the last six seasons, reaching a record high of 15 G1 wins in 2015-16.

However Weir has steadily threatened Waller with his growing G1 success over the last five seasons.

He failed by just one victory in 2016/17 when Waller trained nine G1 winners to Weir’s eight.

Weir had a career high nine G1 wins last season and was challenging Waller until the Sydney trainer’s late season surge at the Brisbane carnival gave him a total of 13 G1 wins for the season.

If it had not been for Waller’s champion mare Winx, with her six G1 wins in 2016/17 and six again in last season, Weir would certainly be wearing the crown as champion G1 trainer.

This season Waller is leading Weir by eight G1 wins to five, but again Winx has played her part by winning four G1s during her spring campaign.

The Perth summer carnival presents three G1 races with the Railway Stakes on Saturday week the first battleground for Waller and Weir.

Waller has confirmed that last start Flemington winner Kaonic and multiple stakes winner Mister Sea Wolf will tackle the Railway Stakes (1600m).

Weir will also have two and possibly three Railway Stakes starters with Peaceful State and Iconoclasm confirmed and Fifty Stars set to join them on Sunday’s charter flight from Melbourne to Perth if he can win Saturday’s G3 Sandown Stakes (1400m).

Kaonic and Fifty Stars both won races at Flemington during Melbourne Cup week but the latter has a much lower rating and needs to win at Sandown to improve his position on the order of entry for the Railway Stakes.

Peaceful State has been a luckless runner over the spring carnival and is well treated in the Railway Stakes with 53.5kg, only a half kilo over the limit, after his last start third in the G1 Kennedy Mile at Flemington.

Mister Sea Wolf also has 53.5kg in the Railway Stakes where the topweight is expected to be local star Material Man (57kg) as the three horses above him in the weights (Hartnell, Comin’ Through and Land Of Plenty) have been ruled out.

Waller has won two G1 races in Western Australia, the first being with Moriarty in the Kingston Town Classic in 2014 followed by Good Project’s victory in the 2015 Railway Stakes.

Weir’s recorded his only G1 success in WA in 2016 when Stratum Star won the Kingston Town Classic.

Waller’s stable manager Charlie Duckworth said Kaonic and Mister Sea Wolf had been set for the Railway Stakes/Kingston Town Classic double with the latter G1 race over 1800m to be run on December 8.

“They are likely to stay for the course of the carnival. We thought about also taking Comin’ Through but he’ll probably go to Hong Kong,” Duckworth said.

“Mister Sea Wolf is probably better off at the weights, but Kaonic is the more progressive horse.”

Waller is also sending the three-year-old Orcein to Perth for the $500,000 WA Guineas (1600m) at Ascot on Saturday week.

Weir team will also include multiple Group winner Voodoo Lad to Perth for the $1 million Winterbottom Stakes (1200m) on December 1 and Junipal for the WA Guineas.

Material Man, who has not raced since he won the Belmont Sprint, Hyperion Stakes and Strickland Stakes in successive starts at Belmont in the winter, won a barrier trial at that course on Monday in a positive sign that he had overcome a paddock injury and hoof problems that stopped him going to Melbourne for the spring carnival.