Bathurst's Doug Hewitt and pacer Ripp ready to rumble in The Tab Eureka

Harness racing identity Doug Hewitt will take the reins on pacer Ripp, in the inaugural running of The Tab Eureka on Saturday night, September 2.

And the pair are ready to rumble after arriving at the Club Menangle retention barn on Thursday.

"He's settling in well, I put him in the yards and he was trotting around," Hewitt said.

"He loves attention, so when there's no attention on him he turns it on a bit, which is probably my fault for spoiling him a bit."

While drawing eight - not an overly favourable barrier - Ripp is likely to begin from gate six if the two emergencies inside him are scratched.

And Hewitt said with the main rivals drawn wider on the track, he has options to consider.

However no final decisions regarding tactics have been made yet, with connections tossing up their different options.

"At the moment, the horse is ready and he's feeling unreal but being a big horse that can fire up you run the risk if you launch him off the arm to take a sit whether he comes back underneath you," Hewitt said.

"Or [the other option is] if you go back and they walk, well you've got to have a horse that can run a 24-second quarter to get past them. It makes it very hard."

The $2.1 million Eureka is the world's richest harness race, and is open to three and four-year-old horses selected by slot holders.

In addition to the top class action on the track, the event also includes a number of other functions and attractions, including a live performance by Australian band Birds of Tokyo.

Hewitt said the Eureka as a whole is something he hasn't experienced before in harness racing and he is really excited to be part of the inaugural event.

"It's one thing to not think about it and just take it as it comes," he said.

"But then to sit back and realise everyone that's ever followed harness racing is going to have their eyes on this race, and it's probably going to be one of the biggest crowds they've ever drawn in to harness racing, I'm really looking forward to it," he said.

Ripp is currently ranked as one of the outsiders in the field, but this doesn't worry Hewitt at all.

In fact, it's made the experience even better.

"All these favourites in the world's richest harness race have got all the pressure on their shoulders," he said.

"We've got a horse that I know is more than capable of winning the race but has no expectations.

"So we're going to fly under the radar and when it comes to the crunch we'll be ready to take every opportunity we get."

The Eureka is scheduled to run at Tabcorp Park Menangle on Saturday night at 8.45pm local time.