Tony Gollan is relying on Jim Byrne's intimate knowledge of the Ipswich racetrack to pay off against the odds for his stable on Saturday.

Byrne has ridden three Ipswich Cup winners and he was the most successful jockey at the corresponding meeting last year with a treble.

It's that sort of form Gollan is counting on to deliver an Ipswich Cup victory from a wide draw on Hi Son.

"No one rides Ipswich better than Jimmy," Gollan said.

"He has Volkhere drawn one outside him and Volkhere should slide forward and hopefully we can follow him across."

Gollan said Hi Son could be a difficult horse to ride but Byrne had built an association with the stayer.

"Jim has ridden him twice recently and he has also been riding him in his work," Gollan said.

"This is the race we have set Hi Son for and I think he is ready to return to the winner's list."

Gollan is disappointed his Eye Liner Stakes runner Gundy Spirit also drew wide.

"Gundy Spirit would have been very hard to beat from a good barrier. He is unbeaten at Ipswich and loves the track," he said.

"But he is a horse who needs cover and I don't know if he will get it down the back straight at Ipswich."

Tim Bell has kept the ride on Gundy Spirit after the four-year-old didn't run out 1600m in the Lord Mayor's Mile at Doomben.