The Shoalhaven City Turf Club will honour the memory of the late Bede Murray when it offers a training bonus for the most successful conditioner on its showcase race day.

Murray, the legendary South Coast trainer, died two years ago after a battle with cancer. He was 80.

The Nowra club will offer a trophy and $500 cash for the most successful trainer through the eight races on Sunday, which will be headlined by the $45,000 Nowra Cup.

The race club has been inundated with interest from Sydney and Canberra trainers with Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott to have a rare Nowra runner, Grand Finalist.

One training team outside Sydney trying to ensure the Nowra Cup stays in the possession of the locals is the father-and-son partnership of Robert and Luke Price, who will saddle up Curata Princess.

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The mare scored a decisive win over subsequent city winner Live And Free three starts back and will have the services of one of the country's best travelled jockeys, Jeff Penza.

"I just looked at the prices and I think she's great overs," Luke said. "She's a horse that has come back so much better this preparation. She's been very unlucky this prep. A little bit of it has probably been her own fault, lacking a turn of foot in certain places.

"I think she's looking for 2000 [metres] but, in saying that, she's also looking for a soft track, which she'll get on Sunday. I don't think it's going to be overly soft, but the sting will be out.

"She hasn't showed a great deal of early speed, but the way she's finished off her races has been really good. I think she'll run extremely well. Gai's will be hard to beat bowling along in front, but she'll be hard to beat my mare. She's really trained on well all prep."

Race diary

Sunday: Grafton, Nowra. Monday: Muswellbrook. Tuesday: Wellington. Friday: Casino. Saturday: Wagga.

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Adam Pengilly is a Sports reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.

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