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Champion trainer Darren Weir hopes to end a 14-year Ballarat Cup drought for his stable with a massive team of runners in Saturday’s $350,000 finale to the spring carnival.

Weir has won the Ballarat Cup once, Just The Part giving the record-breaking trainer one of his earliest major victories with his win in 2004.

The race is a special goal for Weir as Ballarat has been his home base since 2001 when he escalated his training career from his origins in western Victoria.

Weir has indicated he will nominate up to seven horses for this year’s Ballarat Cup and may run at least five of them.

His runners will come from Lucky For All, Master Zephyr, Tradesman, Kiwia, Another Coldie, Andrea Mantegna and Top Prospect.

The stable reported on Sunday that Kiwia and Tradesman had pulled up well after running in the Eclipse Stakes at Sandown on Saturday. Kiwia finished an unlucky fifth with Tradesman seventh.

Another Coldie has won the Horsham and Kyneton Cups at his last two starts while Andrea Mantegna won the Ararat Cup at his latest start with stablemate Master Zephyr third.

On Saturday the former Kiwi galloper Romancer gave Weir his third win in four years in the Donald Cup.