Twelve months ago he was faced with the final two barriers - just about the best and the worst on offer - and he drew the latter.

This time? A little better, with the Olive-trained Maid Of Ore set to jump from barrier 12 in Monday's Canberra Cup at Thoroughbred Park, a track rated a soft six which may be upgraded by race day.

The Canberra racing industry takes a huge step towards normality this weekend with a bumper crowd expected for Sunday's Black Opal Stakes, which is backed up a day later by the Canberra Cup.

Trainers and racing stakeholders came together to mark the occasion with a barrier draw by the Canberra Carousel, a setting fit to kickstart the city's premier racing carnival.

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Olive admits Maid Of Ore drawing barrier 12 is "not perfect but I can't complain" as he casts his eye over a field he believes is so strong there is no clear standout to lift the Canberra Cup.

"She's an old stalwart for this area, this is her third Cup in a row. She's been racing really well without winning," Olive said.

"She ran third at Moonee Valley a couple of weeks ago and she probably should have won to be honest. She placed at Canterbury recently.

"She has probably been racing in races below this quality, but back on her home track, she loves racing here and she is racing well. It just comes down to a bit of luck on the day and we'll see what happens.

"To be honest I think there's probably not a standout this year, I think it's got a lot of depth to it. It's a pretty even bunch of horses. There's good depth to the race.

"You normally get a Canberra Cup, or a Black Opal as well, where it doesn't go as deep and there's your top four chances. You could probably state a case for nearly all of them.

"This is our premier racing carnival so I'm really looking forward to it. I hope Canberra gets behind it."

Canberra trainer Norm Gardner's Lethal Lady has drawn barrier one in Sunday's Black Opal Stakes, a far stretch from race favourite Queen of the Ball in barrier 16.

Gardner had a horse beaten in a photo finish for third in last year's instalment, but hopes Lethal Lady is primed to go better this time around.

"This filly has had a better preparation. We've mapped it out a bit better than what we did last year," Gardner said.

"I think Metallicity and Sweet Ride [are the horses to beat]. Sweet Ride obviously won the preview quite well, but big wraps on Metallicity and I think they're fairly desperate to get some prizemoney going into the Golden Slipper. They're the main two that would be the concern.

"[Barrier one] can be sometimes the worst barrier to draw but I think in this situation, I'm very happy with that.

"The big days are a buzz. A lot of times you go on a Friday afternoon and there's three people there, so it's a big buzz. It's a great atmosphere at Canberra."

BLACK OPAL STAKES BARRIER DRAW

1. Sweet Ride - barrier 13

2. Cool Amigo - 8

3. Great Siege - 11

4. Metallicity - 14

5. Nolan - 3

6. Peace Officer - 15

7. Rise Of The Masses - 2

8. Standing Order - 4

9. Warby - 12

10. Queen Of The Ball - 16

11. Invertational - 10

12. Lethal Lady - 1

13. Swift Sheet - 9

14. Troach - 5

15. Fine Vintage - 7

16. Custodian - 6

CANBERRA CUP BARRIER DRAW

1. Sacramento - 14

2. Torrens - 9

3. Parry Sound - 16

4. Sikandarabad - 6

5. Monegal - 2

6. Toomuchtobear - 10

7. Alakahan - 5

8. Kiss The Bride - 18

9. Le Baol - 7

10. Five Kingdom - 4

11. Mr Gee - 1

12. Outlandos - 11

13. Canasta - 17

14. Dadoozdart - 3

15. Maid Of Ore - 12

16. The Guru - 15

17. King Ratel - 13

18. Roman - 8

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