Spiranac ($12, James McDonald) finished third behind Art Cadeau ($4 favourite, Tommy Berry) and Handle The Truth ($7, Nash Rawiller) in Saturday's $1.3 million The Kosciuszko - the richest event in the nation for country-trained runners.

The Rod Northam-trained Spiranac had used the $80,000 Tyers Park feature race, The Panorama, as the platform to put his case forward for a potential Kosciuszko selection, when there were just a couple of spots still left up for grabs in the lucrative Randwick race.

Spiranac destroyed one of the highest quality fields ever assembled at Bathurst and almost immediately after the race Northam was negotiating with Kosciuszko raffle ticket winners about getting his mighty mare into the Sydney showdown.

While she was too far away to prevent the two horse duel to the line between Art Cadaeau and Handle The Truth it was a great ride from McDonald to weave Spiranac through the middle of the track to earn a hard fought third placing for Notham and raffle ticket holders.

Bathurst Thoroughbred Racing created The Panorama three years ago to entice potential Kosciuszko candidates to put their name out there in a high quality country event.

Time will tell whether the race achieves that ambition but Spiranac's big run for third in Saturday's The Kosciuszko bodes well for that aim.

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