Nowra's Michelle Ritchie and her four-year-old gelding Blue Missile are just 1280 metres away from joining Shoalhaven Heads' Terry Robinson and his Art Cadeau at Randwick on Saturday, April 3.

And if Blue Missile, the winner of his past three starts, runs anything like he's capable of, Ritchie is confident he can qualify at Sunday's wildcard race.

"Blue Missile has been a slow maturing horse and I always knew this preparation would be his best," said trainer Ritchie.

Read more: Dragons fired up to flip script on Bulls in country champs semi-final

"He's enjoyed a little bit of downtime this week, as he's backing up from Kembla Grange last Friday but I'm confident he will be ready to go on Sunday.

"The potential wet track (currently a heavy eight) isn't an issue, as he's won in tough conditions before."

Blue Missile's last three wins have seen him race to the front and "ride him up to speed", a strategy Ritchie and her jockey Adrian Layt intend to deploy at the Muswellbrook Race Club.

If he does so and finishes in the top two, Ritchie and her team will be ecstatic.

"I would be over the moon if he qualified for the final, as he's such a special horse to me," Ritchie, who only trains two horses at the moment including Blue Missile and Little Outta Reach, said.

"He had a truck accident as a yearling and his prognosis was he would not ever race due to his injuries, so I'm thrilled all my hard work has paid off in getting him back to the races and in winning form."

Blue Missile, who has drawn barrier 18, is the latest of Ritchie's strong pedigree in the country championships.

Read more: Gorillas bolster forward pack with addition of England representative Quinn

"I qualified his half brother Better Not Blue two years in a row and he ran second in a final in 2016," the 58 year-old said.

"I also qualified Can't Find Snippy a year later but unfortunately she got a foot abscess and couldn't run in the final.

"There were when I was a provincial trainer, so would love to qualify Blue Missile as a country trainer."

We depend on subscription revenue to support our journalism. If you are able, please subscribe here. If you are already a subscriber, thank you for your support.