The 53-year-old has nine horses stabled on Newcastle Racecourse and Calipari will be his first starter at his new home track in the 900-metre maiden plate.

The four-year-old was formerly trained by Peter and Paul Snowden and was runner-up to speedy stablemate King at Newcastle in May 2018.

Clients of Minervini bought Calipari from the China Horse Club soon after and the gelding was placed twice for his South Australian connections in December last year.

A son of top sire Written Tycoon, Calipari won an 800m barrier trial on Newcastle's Beaumont track by seven lengths on Monday. Aaron Bullock will ride the speedster on Saturday.

"I could have started Calipari first up in Adelaide, but I decided to hold him back until we got to Newcastle," Minervini said.

"He led on his ear in the trial earlier in the week and Grace Willoughby, who rode him, said she had him under a very tight hold.

"He would not have blown a candle out after the trial and if Calipari runs up to that form I am confident he can win.

"Newcastle Jockey Club's [CEO] Matt Benson and [racing supervisor] Michael Buckley are both from South Australia, so I got in touch and I flew up to check out the training facilities a couple of times and thought, this is the place for me.

"The prizemoney in NSW is so attractive and at my age I believed I needed a new challenge.

"It is difficult to find owners in South Australia because of the prizemoney and negativity in that state.

"We are very excited to be here."

Former Japanese mare Stellar Impact is an interesting runner in the 1895m maiden plate.

She was placed in two of her six starts in Japan and has her first Australian start for the Waterhouse-Bott stable on Saturday. Stellar impact won a recent Randwick trial.

AAP reports: Stablemates Mandela and Famous will clash in the Up And Coming Stakes at Randwick with co-trainer Peter Snowden believing both colts can make names for themselves as the season progresses.

The two are coming off maiden wins at their previous starts - Mandela scoring at Randwick on August 3 while Famous got on the board at Newcastle a week later.

Mandela is yet to be tested at stakes level in his three starts while Famous was thrown in the deep end in the Pago Pago Stakes on debut in March but finished down the track on a heavy surface.

Snowden, who trains in partnership with his son Paul, said there was not a lot between them going into Saturday's 1300m-race.

"They both have a similar amount of ability and are both horses who will make a name for themselves," Snowden said. "Whether it's this race or later on, time will tell. But both are going into that race with good chances."

Mandela and Famous are at $12 and $14 respectively for Up And Coming Stakes, with the Chris Waller-trained True Detective the $2.50 favourite.

Snowden says Mandela is a work in progress but he knows the ability is there.

Mandela will have blinkers on, replacing winkers, on Saturday.

"He's got a bit to learn but he's definitely got talent," Snowden said.

"If he puts together what we're seeing at home of a morning he's certainly capable of running well on Saturday."

Famous, who has also had three starts, justified his short quote at Newcastle in his season return to win by two lengths.

"He won really well first-up at Newcastle," Snowden said.

"It's a rise in class on Saturday but I feel he's a horse we should be hearing more of later in the spring."