Aussie James will chase a third consecutive victory when he contests the $40,000 Benchmark 67 Handicap (1000m) at 4.10pm.

Aussie James has won four of his 11 race starts but will be after a maiden city victory after two previous unsuccessful attempts.

Russell has opted for former local boy, Angland, to take the ride and he could not be in better form after a winning double at Magic Millions Day at Gold Coast last Saturday.

After dominant wins at Gundagai and Goulburn, Russell picked out this city assignment for Aussie James and is keen to see how he stands up.

“He’s feeling good enough and he’s trained on well from Goulburn,” Russell said.

“There’s no races around for him at the moment and his rating is up to 66 now so it’s either go to an open handicap back here, or find a city race because there are no 1000 metre benchmarks, which makes him hard to place at the moment.

“I picked out this race for him after he won at Goulburn so we freshened him up and gave him an easy trial at Gundagai.

“He’s feeling well and looks well. We’ve got an in-form jockey on, we’re happy to have Tye on and we’ll see how we go.”

Aussie James has drawn second from the outside in the field of 11.

Blessed with natural speed, Aussie James often leads in his races but Russell understands that may be a difficult task at Warwick Farm.

“There are four different speed horses that will go forward with him,” she said.

“Hopefully he can find the front, but if he can’t, Plan B will be to take a sit just off the pace. Hopefully we’re not stuck out three wide, with it being at Warwick Farm.

“It’s a step up in class for him again but the way he’s going, it’s worth having a crack at.”

Russell trained in partnership with her father David Blundell for the past couple of seasons but the pair have decided to go back to both training in their own right.