Going into this Sunday's last round at Newcastle the race for finals spots is certainly fierce, with Amanda Turnbull's Bundoran currently in 12^th place on 15 points and Chris Frisby's Our Uncle Sam in 16^th on 13 points.

They remain the only two Bathurst horses in contention for a place in the $500,000 grand final, as Turnbull's Ellmers Image (nine points) and Frisby's Aphorism (eight) sit too far back to be realistic shots.

The top 12 runners in the standings after the Newcastle round will go into the finale.

Sadly, Steve Turnbull's Atomic Red and Bernie Hewitt's Make Mine Memphis have been forced to withdraw from the last round of Australasia's premier racing series after pulling up from Wednesday night's Bathurst heats in inadequate condition.

Bundoran and Our Uncle Sam kept themselves in the mix for a finals appearance after they both finished fifth in their Bathurst heats.

Bundoran gets the chance to conserve his energy from gate one in his upcoming Newcastle heat, while Our Uncle Sam will have a testing back row draw to contend with in his heat as he starts directly behind new Bathurst track record holder Expensive Ego.

Frisby said he couldn't be much happier with the way both his horses faired in their home heats.

"They both went really good actually. Aphorism did a good job too," he said.

"Sam got back a fair way and we had to go at the end, but they did break the track record by two seconds.

"We've been pretty lucky actually. In the first heat they equalled the track record and then in this heat they broke the track record, so we're in a good place.

"Hopefully in this one coming up he can get himself up there close enough from the start, that's the main thing. When he's right, he's a horse that can race from anywhere."

Belinda and Luke McCarthy's star duo of King Of Swing and Expensive Ego lead the way in the standings with 32 points, courtesy of their two victories, and they have the top three locked out thanks to Spirit Of St Louis' (29) Bathurst win.

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