BY TOM BARBER | Daily Liberal 14 September

Brett Robb kept his phone close ever since the Kosciuszko ticket holders were announced and on Thursday morning, the call he wanted finally came.

Robb's Sizzle Minizzle was chosen by Bathurst winning ticket holders Terry Roberts and Brian Wood to run in the $2 million Kosciuszko at Randwick.

"It's really good that they did choose us," Robb said.

"Went it came out I was pretty confident that he would get a spot but I was hoping it was the Bathurst guys that chose him."

Punters purchase sweepstakes tickets earlier in the year for one of the 14 ticket holder spots.

The lucky 14 ticket holders picked a NSW Country or ACT trainer horse to run in the 1200m race, while also getting a share in the prize money.

Sizzle Minizzle's 12 career starts have resulted in four wins and none were bigger than his Randwick triumph.

Earlier this year, the gelding took out the Newhaven Park Country Championships final as an outsider and now looks like a serious threat of making some noise in October.

A trial at Tamworth in late August followed by an exhibition gallop on Dubbo Gold Cup day was enough to convince Roberts and Wood.

However, before the two took an interest in the gelding Robb said a legendary jockey has already had a keen eye on him.

"We gave him a gallop heading into the barrier trial and it was probably the most pressure he has had on him," he said.

"To have someone like Greg Ryan come back and tell me 'mate, you've got a very serious horse on your hands here'.

"He's a pretty quiet bloke but that runs shivers up your spine, for Greg Ryan to tell me that. It's pretty exciting."

The Tamworth trial pitted Sizzle Minizzle up against former Dubbo galloper Talbragar.

Now trained by Cody Morgan, Talbaragar is another of the runners confirmed for the Kosciuszko.

A exhibition gallop at Dubbo on Sunday and the trial last month have Robb impressed with Sizzle.

"It's a good little map for him, we gave him the trip away to Tamworth so he could trial against some better horses over there," he said.

"He went up against Talbragar and did really well, he pulled up really good. He is a really easy horse to train, I think we have him on track.

"Greg Ryan has been coming in and doing all his fast work on him, he has taken a lot of interest in him. He is really happy with the horse, the more and more he rides him the more he likes him."

Having a winning ticket in the Kosciuszko is rare enough but the Bathurst pair have form when it comes to the race.

Back in 2018, the pair were winning ticket holders for the first time, choosing Snitz on that occasion who went on to run 11th.

But with a Central West now in the running, the pair are looking at continuing to grow racing in the region.

"It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Hopefully, we have picked a good horse and it runs well on the day. Just to be in the field means you're in with a chance, so fingers crossed we get lucky," Wood told ACM.

"We picked Sizzle Minizzle because it won this year's Country Championships held at Randwick earlier this year and liked the fact it's trained out of Dubbo.

"A win would really help put Western Districts racing on the map."

Sizzle Minizzle is aiming to run at Rosehill on September 23, a final run before the Kosciuszko.

The $2 million Kosciuszko will be run on October 14.