Trainer Jason Edwards is confident the Mackay Cup will be heading south for the fourth time in five years when the Brisbane-based Sir Barnabus lines up in the 2000 metre feature on Saturday.

Brisbane stayers have dominated the Mackay Cup in recent times with Balboa Rocks winning in 2018 followed by Bergerac in 2019 and Hail Manhattan last year.

The Alby Molino-trained Best Hoffa was the last successful North Queensland stayer to win the Mackay Cup in 2020.

Rising eight-year-old Sir Barnabus has mostly raced in the state's South-East but is venturing north for the first time in his career this winter.

Sir Barnabus was an eye-catching second behind Master Jamie in the Rockhampton Cup over 1600 metres on July 9 in his first run in Central Queensland.

"It was a tremendous run and if he drew a decent barrier he would have won," Edwards said.

"It was just unfortunate we had to bump into Master Jamie, who is the best horse in Rocky.

"He drew wide and his rider Justin Stanley said he never stopped riding but the horse lost momentum when he had to zig zag through the field to come around them."

Sir Barnabus has been a great money spinner for connections and will proceed to the Townsville and Cairns Cup's if he races well.

"When I first started training, I had to get a bank overdraft on my business to buy him for $8,000 out of a paddock at Mt Mee," Edwards said.

"He's now won ten races and over $500,000 in prize money."

Edwards has never been further north than Rockhampton with a horse after his first trip to the Central Queensland city last year when Sir Barnabus finished fifth to Regal Stage in the Rockhampton Cup.

"He was unlucky not to win last year's Rocky Cup, too," he said.

Edwards is delighted top provincial rider Stanley has chosen to stick with Sir Barnabus.

"Justin is a brilliantly skilled rider and he gives you every confidence when you put him on a horse," he said.

Sir Barnabus was also nominated for Doomben on Saturday but the forecast of rain made it an easy decision to tackle the Mackay Cup.

"There's rain around in Brisbane so it's a good thing we're heading north as he prefers to be on top of the ground," Edwards said.

"His best distance as a young horse was 2200 metres but I've found now his best trip is between 1600 to 1800 metres.

"He does a lot of swimming these days and less track work which means he's now more competitive over shorter trips as he's become a lot sharper."