Star four-year-old Harjeet has won only eight races, the least of any of the 24 horses contesting the time-honoured Easter Cup at Mowbray.

However Sportsbet has him a $1.70 favourite to win his heat on Sunday and $3 favourite to win the $75,000 final on Saturday week.

To add to the intrigue, Harjeet, trained at Longford by Todd Rattray, has had only one previous run in a standing-start.

He won that race convincing at Devonport on February 25 when he began well from a 10m handicap and worked to the death before proving much too good for restricted-class horses.

Despite facing much better performed rivals on Sunday, Harjeet is being assessed on the basis that he is the up-and-coming star of the field.

Against an exceptionally strong crop of three-year-olds last season, he beat Rocknroll Turbo and Usain Jolt in the $40,000 Globe Derby Stakes and ran second to Scooterwillrev in the $30,000 Tasmanian Derby.

Since being beaten narrowly first-up as a four-year-old, he has strung together four consecutive wins in lower class races, most by very comfortable margins.

Sportsbet’s market on the Easter Cup final on Saturday night March 31 is – 

3.00 Harjeet

4.50 Lets Elope

6.00 The Faithful

8.00 Star Chamber

11.00 Dapper Dana

12.00 Mister Lennox

15.00 Stagger Lee

16.00 Queens Advocate

17.00 Isaac

21.00 Riverboat Jasper

34.00 Beach Boy Adios

51.00-plus others

A $25,000 increase in the Easter Cup prizemoney has lured four interstate runners – Lets Elope, The Faithful, Beach Boy Adios and Stagger Lee.

Lets Elope is favourite for Sunday’s other heat and second favourite for the final.

He hasn’t won for nearly 12 months but looked unlucky when a close second to Star Chamber in the Governors Cup in Hobart last week.

Lets Elope won the Tasmania Cup in Hobart in 2015 beating Star Chamber and Outbach Mack and returned the following year to win it again beating Pachacuti and Five Star Anvil.

The Faithful has been transferred from Victorian trainer Nathan Jack to Steve Davis at Devonport for the duration of the series.

The former Kiwi, part-owned by Latrobe businessman Warren Viney, has won seven races since coming to Australia including three at Menangle and one at Melton.