The long-time Bendigo hobby trainer and her loyal owners - Stacey and Craig Kirkpatrick - will get their shot at Victoria's richest race for maiden gallopers in the $75,000 The Hotham at Ballarat racecourse on Friday.

Run over 1200m, The Hotham is the race for battlers, working on reverse ballot entry, meaning the poorest performed horses - those with the most starts and least prize money - get preference.

With a relatively modest - compared to some of his rivals - 35 starts and eight minor placings to his name, the Vanderfeen-trained Dante Pierro just scraped into the field.

Most in the field of 14 have had 40-odd starts, save for Like You Look, who has had 64 for eight minor placings, and the Bryce Stanaway-trained Costano Mille, who has had a staggering 116, for 13 placings.

The happy-go-lucky Vanderfeen, who was Bendigo's leading picnic trainer in 2019-20, said prize money-wise, The Hotham is the biggest race she has been involved in during training career, which stretches back to 1992.

"My jockey (Bendigo's John Robertson) said the same thing, it's the biggest one he's ridden in," she said.

"We've always put him on our horses when we could, but now he's based in Bendigo, so he does a bit of track work for us now and has gotten to know the horses."

With the 2019-20 picnic season shutting down prematurely in March and the new season, which traditionally starts in October, on hold until further notice from Racing Victoria and the state government, Dante Pierro will be making his first start since January 25.

Vanderfeen expects the six-year-old gelding will give a good account of himself.

"He's in the race - that's the main thing," she said.

"He was the last one to get into the field, we were sweating on it a bit.

"He's limited in his ability, but he tries hard. I say, at least if they try, you know where you stand with them.

"He's not the greatest horse, but neither are any of the opposition. He's beautifully bred."

Vanderfeen, who combines training with her job as a scientist at the East Bendigo-based Ace Laboratory Services, is not exaggerating when she speaks of the horse's breeding.

Dante Pierro is by five-time Group 1-winner and 2012 Golden Slipper winner Pierro, out of the American stakes winner Our Dancing Babe.

He made his debut as a three-year-old in 2017 at Pakenham for Anthony Freedman, but was beaten by 27.8 lengths.

It would be his lone run for Freedman before quickly transferring to Kerry Weir at Tumut in New South Wales.

After 24 starts and only a handful of placings, he made his way to former Bendigo trainer Paul Banks in August last year and has been with Vanderfeen since last November.

"His previous owners bought him to run in The Hotham last year, but he didn't get in the field, so they sold him after that," she said.

"We bought him to have a bit of fun with at the picnics because Craig wanted to ride something.

"And we've had a bit of fun with him. He hasn't won anything, but he runs placings.

"He's had six starts at the picnics and only been out of the money once, so he's paying his way.

"We didn't pay much for him and he's a lovely horse to deal with. But it's all about having fun, it's not about making money."

That said, Vanderfeen said the $41,250 first prize would 'make a difference to anyone's life'.

"I know Craig says if we win he'd have a statue of the horse in his front paddock and he would be there forever," she said.

"Even if he runs 10th, he's still getting more than he would be winning at the picnics."

At the very least, a win or a good placing would provide some consolation to Vanderfeen as she navigates her way through a spring without the picnics.

"I've already turned three horses out because there is nowhere for them to go," she said.

"It's difficult when you have low rating horses and you are aiming them at the picnic races.

"One of them (Magic Ticket) is a last start winner, but there is nowhere for him to go.

"I have heard maybe at the end of November the season might kick-off, but it's all about crowd control.

"I don't exactly understand it. Out in the country where we are, it's not exactly coronavirus-central."

The Hotham will be run on Ballarat's synthetic track after heavy rain led Racing Victoria to transfer the meeting from turf.

Read more: Racing's in the blood for Bendigo's Aileen Vanderfeen

Have you signed up to the Bendigo Advertiser's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in central Victoria.