Mark Newnham might call Quackerjack the “old boy” of the stable, but he is adamant the gelding can wind back the clock in the $1 million The Gong.

The six-year-old has been the longest serving member of Newnham’s young team and has the distinction of being the first yearling he bought at the sales after taking out his trainers’ licence.

“He’s an old boy in our stable,” Newnham said.

“He was our first yearling we bought. I’d been training for about six months and the Magic Millions was the first sale that came up.

“He has been a beauty for the stable for a long time.”

Quackerjack has had a chequered journey since finishing a close second to Mister Sea Wolfin the inaugural running of The Gong (1600m) two years ago.

He went on to win the Villiers Stakes that summer and returned for a competitive Sydney autumn carnival campaign before being troubled by some niggling issues that restricted his time on the racetrack.

Newnham is mindful Quackerjack has not won for almost two years, but he is confident the horse is close to the form he was in two seasons ago.

“After he ran second here, he won the Villiers then he came back and won the Liverpool City Cup, but he hasn’t won since then,” Newnham said.

“He did have a couple of little issues and he had a knee operation, but he seems to be getting back to that sort of form now.

“His work is sharp, he’s moving well and he is fully fit. We are pretty sure we have got him close to his best again.”

Josh Parr will partner Quackerjack from barrier eight and the horse gets to the race third-up after a solid fourth to Exoboom over 1400m before filling the same position behind Blue Soldier on an unsuitable heavy track at Hawkesbury last start.

He is a $23 chance in early TAB fixed odds markets, which have Golden Eagle runner-up Count De Rupeeas a $3.60 favourite.

The Chris Waller-trained Atishu has been one of the best supported runners, firming into $6.50 after opening as a $12 chance.