The irony is not lost on Brian Park.

As Park and partner Sarah Zschoke navigate Flemington’s mounting yard ahead of Eduardo’s Newmarket Handicap assignment, the pair will be both obscure and conspicuous.

Of all the sets of connections involved in Victoria’s most storied sprint, the jockey-trainer tandem behind Eduardo stands out as interlopers.

The highly capable Park, 38, has ridden one Group 1 winner in a career stretching back to 1996. The emergent Zschoke, 36, is yet to tally 100 starters, let alone a Group 1 victor.

Yet, collectively and individually, the couple perfectly illustrate the enduring beauty — and opportunity — of Australian racing.

“It’s going to be great going there,” Park said. “We’re taking on the best sprinters in Australia, horses from the biggest stables.

“We’re confident going in. We think the horse is a winning chance.

“It would be amazing to win a Group 1 with Eduardo.”

Sparingly raced Eduardo is TAB $9 third favourite for the Newmarket, suggesting Park and Zschoke could deliver on one of the sport’s biggest stages.

To do so would be to topple the wealthiest owners in the world.

Park and Zschoke will challenge Sheikh Mohammed’s blue-bloods Osborne Bulls and Encryption. The duo will also attempt to upstage horses raced by Qatari royalty, Hong Kong magnates and local business leviathans.

“It’s a huge opportunity, but the horse has earned his place,” Park said.

“I remember the time I trialled him a week before he won (by six lengths on debut) at Moe saying to Sarah he had a Group 2 in him.

“He felt like a really good, a really smart horse and he’s shown that now.

“He’s still new to it all but he’s shown how much ability he’s got.”

With Group 2 victory at Caulfield and a Group 1 Oakleigh Plate third – at just his sixth start – Eduardo has borne out Park’s assessment.

The five-year-old gelding and Zschoke have combined to provide Park with an unexpected career Indian Summer. Park was all but washed up in 2014 when shoulder surgery sidelined him, seemingly permanently.

The soreness had endured since 2011. An aborted return in ’13 was a major setback.

But, under the guidance of Dr Gary Zimmerman, and through meeting with Zschoke, Park has forged an improbable return to elite competition.

He will chase his first Group 1 since winning the 2002 Goodwood Handicap on Zip Zip Array when he vaults onto Eduardo’s back.

“I’m pretty much blessed to have met Sarah and now to be riding a horse like Eduardo,” he said. “There were times when I thought I wouldn’t get back after the shoulder surgery.

“It took a while to get my eye back in and then it took a while to get support with rides.

“I didn’t know if I was going to get another chance, but it’s worked out really well with Sarah and Eduardo.”

Park believes Eduardo will benefit from his narrow second down the Flemington 1200m straight in the Group 2 Gilgai Stakes behind I Am Excited.

“We thought he was a winning chance in the Gilgai, even though we threw him a bit in the deep end,” Park said. “He just got a bit lost that day because it was his first time down the straight and he was looking for a turn.

“At the 250m, he looked gone but he fought on really well.

“Going on times, had he gone straighter in the Gilgai, he probably should’ve won.

“Drawn where we are (21) in the Newmarket is our preferred side of the track.

“I think he’ll run really well.”

If Eduardo contrives a Group 1 miracle, Park believes Zschoke deserves all of the credit.

“Sarah doesn’t hammer her horses,” Park said. “She looks into them individually and finds a way to get the best out of them. This horse has been fantastic for us.

“We think he’s got a great chance.”