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Team Southern Hemisphere’s Australian duo Noel Callow and Hugh Bowman have drawn moderately at the International Jockeys’ Weekend draw ceremony in Mauritius on Wednesday night, but are upbeat they can still put up a good show.

The other 10 jockeys who will do battle in the two-day series on 1 and 2 December will, however, also sit aboard a mixed bag of top fancies and longshots, and a lot will depend on the luck in the running.

Except for South Africa’s Johnny Geroudis (whole year) and Callow (three months) who rode in Mauritius this season and the local boys from Team Mauritius, the rest would not have had a clue how they fared at the draw, if not for the various reactions from the crowd every time a name is pulled out.

From his nine rides, Callow would know Acuppa (Race 6 on Sunday) the best as he is trained by his boss Soun Gujadhur, while he said he had scant knowledge of the rest and would need to study their forms a little better in the next couple of days.

“I rode Acuppa twice and he got beat narrowly into second at the second ride,” said Callow who won the IJW in 2007 by riding two winners.

“He’s quite genuine and was the champion horse last year, but he is not quite the same this year, but my boss has done a good job to get him fit for this big weekend.

“I don’t know much about the other rides, but I was told I drew some decent chances like Valmorne (Race 3 on Saturday) and Arabian Empire (Race 4 on Sunday).

“But you know my draws were not all that flash back in 2007 either and I still ended up winning.

Anything can happen in such events, but It would be nice to ride at least a winner, and why not for the Gujadhurs again.”

“King” Callow, as he is dubbed whenever he rides overseas, took the Mauritius scene by storm since commencing riding duties for the Gujadhurs last September, booting home 15 winners from 67 rides, a massive haul that played a major part in his employer lifting the champion stable trophy for the first time in 36 years.

Bowman was even more in the dark about his rides than Callow, but word among the in-the-know crowd at the reception was that the two-time Sydney champion jockey was among those who were not dealt the best of cards. But the 2007 Shergar Cup winner was still smiling at Wednesday’s ceremony.

“(Captain) Johnny G (Geroudis) told me Ghost Dog (Race 1 on Sunday) is my best chance. It’s a good horse from his yard and he said he was badly checked at his last start and should have won easy,” said Bowman who is at his first riding experience in Mauritius.

“Look, I don’t know any of these horses and I can only go out there and try my best. I am riding three horses (Iwannadance, Azapel and The Balladeer) that Noel knows well and I can get a few pointers from him there.

“Fingers crossed, I go all right, but there is probably less pressure on me as nobody knows me either. Besides, a race is not won at the draw, but on the track.”

Local pundits have made Team France comprising Stephane Pasquier (captain), Olivier Peslier and Maxime Guyon the hot favourites to land the event after they drew about a dozen solid chances over the 14 races on the card. The remaining two supporting races will feature local jockeys and lady riders from the Fegentri League.