Mouse Almighty will be chasing consecutive victories in the Albury Sprint Classic on Friday as apprentice jockey Holly Durnan searches for her first career win.

Trainer Mitchell Beer is happy to give the Country Championships a miss with talented mare Sunrise Ruby in favour of targeting a couple of feature country sprints in the coming months.

Tom Marquand is on his way to Sydney and hoping to plunder more carnival riches.

Favourite Hardware Lane ($2.30 on TAB) is ready to prove his credentials for the SDRA Newhaven Park Country Championships qualifier when he starts in the preview at Albury on Thursday.

You know it’s Country Championships time when the preview races start popping up around the countryside and Thursday’s Albury program will lead the charge.