Champion trainer Kris Lees could have as many as three starters in the $1 million The Hunter

Trainer Kris Lees could have as many as three starters in the $1 million The Hunter (1300m) as he endeavours to finally secure a hometown win in Newcastle's richest race on Saturday.

Rustic Steel, winner of The Coast, Scone Cup and Big Dance last year, leads the Lees stable's The Hunter assault and is the only one of the trainer's three entries assured of a start.

His stablemates, Spangler (22nd) and Acquitted (25th) are way down in the race's order of entry.

The Hunter has received 26 nominations but is restricted to a maximum field size of 16 with four emergencies.

In early TAB Fixed Odds betting on the big race, Mazu is favourite at $4.50 ahead of Coal Crusher and Far Too Easy at $6.

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Rustic Steel is rated a $11 chance after his good first-up seventh to I Am Me in the Group 3 Sydney Stakes on Everest Day.

Spangler, an impressive winner of the Little Dance last start, is at $51 and Acquitted rated at $101.

Lees covets The Hunter particularly after training the runner-up in three successive years with Tactical Advantage (behind Savatiano, 2019) then Special Reward (Sweet Deal, 2020) and Wandabaa (Lost And Running, 2021).

The Peter and Paul Snowden-trained Mazu has been allocated topweight of 59kg and if successful on Saturday he will equal Lost And Running's The Hunter weight-carrying record for The Hunter.

Godolphin's Vilana is next with 58kg and if he can defend his title, he will provide his trainer, James Cummings with a third The Hunter after he prepared Savatiano to win the race's inaugural running in 2019.

Unusually, Sydney's reigning premier trainer Chris Waller doesn't have an entry for The Hunter but he does have new stable recruit Canberra Legend and Caboche entered for the $300,000 The Beauford (2300m) and three promising three-year-olds for the Group 3 $160,000 Spring Stakes (1600m) with Influential, Jurisprudence and Heads You Lose.