The country Cups circuit has so far been the domain of Taree star Southern Shimmer but trainer Ross Stitt hopes to raise the bar after the gelding makes his Queensland debut at Eagle Farm.Stitt will test the waters with Southern Shimmer in Saturday's Blackwater Quarries & Concrete Handicap (1600m) while stablemate Youthful Jack will start in the Stanton Mienert Business Valuations Handicap (1200m).Southern Shimmer took his record to eight wins from 17 starts with a last-to-first win in the Dubbo

The country Cups circuit has so far been the domain of Taree star Southern Shimmer but trainer Ross Stitt hopes to raise the bar after the gelding makes his Queensland debut at Eagle Farm.

Stitt will test the waters with Southern Shimmer in Saturday's Blackwater Quarries & Concrete Handicap (1600m) while stablemate Youthful Jack will start in the Stanton Mienert Business Valuations Handicap (1200m).

Southern Shimmer took his record to eight wins from 17 starts with a last-to-first win in the Dubbo Cup (1600m) on September 18.

The son of Southern Image won the Sawtell Cup (1515m) in July and the Murrumbidgee Guineas (1600m) at Wagga in May and was also runner-up to Brave The Way in the Coffs Harbour Cup (1600m) in August.

"I'll see how he goes on Saturday but I'm thinking of giving him a break after this to prepare him for the (Sydney) autumn," Stitt said.

"I've always said you won't see the best from him until he fully matures. He's still growing and will be a lot stronger next year.

"He always gets back in his races and won quite impressively at Dubbo last time and also at Sawtell and was very unlucky in the Coffs Harbour Cup when he ran into a few traffic jams."

Stitt bought Southern Simmer as a yearling at the Inglis Classic sales in Sydney for $16,000 and has seen the investment returned more than tenfold.

"The only time I've taken him to the city was when he got beaten at Randwick on a bog track," Stitt said.

"He doesn't like heavy tracks and the meeting was called off after that race."

Evergreen Robert Thompson will make the trip from Newcastle to partner Southern Glimmer and Youthful Jack.

"Youthful Jack is going well but I'll be very disappointed if Southern Shimmer doesn't win," Stitt said.

Youthful Jack will be attempting to break a drought of more than two years since his last win in the Listed Brisbane Plate (1400m) at Eagle Farm in May 2009.

"He's going good at the moment but he hasn't won since he had a throat operation two years ago when he was with Allan Denham," Stitt said.

Stitt took over training Youthful Jack after he had his last run for Denham when he ran last at Rosehill in February.

The six-year-old, who had a brief stint with Toowoomba's Rex Lipp when he was two, started favourite but could manage only fifth on a heavy track in the Denman Cup (1280m) at Muswellbrook on October 2.

"He's got barrier two which is important with the false rail in operation and I'm expecting him to be very competitive," Stitt said.