The mare finished second in last year's race as a five-year-old behind Extreme Torque, but with the meeting being transferred to Kyneton due to COVIDSafe requirements, she will face a larger and ultimately tougher field this time around.

Rhythmic Queen will be Julius' first runner for the new year.

She was also his last runner in 2020, having finished third in the $25,000 Nhill Cup (1650m) on December 27.

The mare will head into the race off a four-week freshen up, with Julius confident she can give a good account of herself over the 1850m.

"There's probably a bit more depth to this field compared to last year, but she's stepping out towards her pet distance which is around that 1800m mark," he said.

"She's had a few warm-up runs and then a bit of a break in between. She had a trial last Tuesday at Bendigo and just ground away to the line really nicely over 1000m and ran second.

"She's done all she needs to do to head to Kyneton and run well.

"We've given her a trial within a week of a race before and it's worked for her, so hopefully she's not too far away.

"She's drawn well to get a pretty cruisy run in transit, so hopefully there's enough speed on to suit us."

The Nhill Cup has proven a solid formline, with the winner Dubai Dominion going on to win the stronger $45,000 Koroit Cup (1700m) at Warrnmabool on January 10.

With her second in last year's Cup foremost in his mind, Julius said his preference would have been for the meeting to have been kept at Hanging Rock.

"She really raced well there last year and Hanging Rock is always a high-pressure track, and for a horse who gets back in the field and relies a fair bit on tempo in races, there's always a good tempo at Hanging Rock," he said.

"She would have just been out the back idling along and working into the race as the rest were getting tired.

"The track change probably doesn't suit, but Kyneton is a tight track and being a Cup, hopefully, there's still enough pressure on.

"With Tough Vic in the race, who likes to get out in front and bowl along, hopefully, they don't let him too far out of sight and a few of them tow along with him."

Rhythmic Queen will be making her 32nd career start and has previously won five races and been placed six times.

After an ultra-quiet start to the new year for Julius, business looks set to quickly pick up following the return to work of his last-start Sandown winner Just Folk, the talented Highclass Harry, who five races last calendar year, and a host of promising two-year-olds.

"They're all just warming up and doing the early stage of their preparation," he said.

"We actually had seven horses at the trials on Tuesday and we will head away to Geelong and trial truckload this Thursday.

"We'll certainly start to get busy again at the races in the next month or so."

An eight-race card at Kyneton kicks-off at 12.51pm with the Cup scheduled for 4.21pm.

It will be the first of two Cup meetings hosted by Kyneton this week, with the $20,000 Woodend Cup to follow on Saturday.

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.