"He is a very good horse and I saw him at the workouts last weekend and he went very well," said Herlihy.
"It is tricky for any three-year-old in this grade but on class he can win."
Krug looked our best three-year-old before a long spring caught up with him around Cup time in Christchurch and he looked a tired horse in the Sires' Stakes Final.
Back to his best he will have too much class for most of his rivals but three-year-olds taking on older horses as lead-up races to the Derby can be vulnerable in either code, so punters won't want to be going crazy over very short odds for him.
Bolt For Brilliance will also be short but probably has more X-factor than Krug. It took Sundees Son to beat him in the National Trot last start and while he hasn't raced for five weeks he sprinted purposefully at the Pukekohe workouts last week when all but dead heating with his main rival in Temporale.
Bolt For Brilliance (40m) gets a 10m start over Temporale (50m) over 2200m, although Temporale tends to step better so could sneak the tactical advantage.
But these days Bolt For Brilliance may be the better horse and even though 40m is a decent handicap over 2200m there is only one horse off the front and one off 10m so it is not as bad as it looks.
Herlihy brings a beautifully-bred debutante to the last race in Bohemian Rhapsody and while only a three-year-old trotting filly she has trialled like she will win if she trots all the way, which is always a gamble with young trotters at their first start.
Five things to watch this weekend
1. Majestic Man
The Kiwi trotter is favourite for the A$300,000 Great Southern Star at Melton, Victoria.
You will need to stay up late to catch him as his heat is at 9.52pm but if he makes the final it is at 12.22am.
The final draws will be crucial in the only major heat and finals race to be held on the same night in Australasia.
2. Cambridge Saturday special
The Waikato club holds a rare Saturday twilight meeting and it is a beauty, with the culmination of their Gold Cup series for both pacers and trotters and they have a huge array of on-course activities.
First race is 3.32pm and all done by 7.38pm.
3. The Hunter Cup
Victoria's greatest pacing race features the clash of defending champion King Of Swing and maybe the best pacer in Australasia in Lochinvar Art.
Chuck in former Kiwi pacers Triple Eight, Alta Orlando and Star Galleria and it might be worth staying up till 11.15pm on Saturday night.
Spoiler alert: Lochinvar Art wins.
4. Trotting mares, lots of them
One of the great anomalies of New Zealand harness racing is how few trotting races we used to have for just mares.
That is slowly changing and Cambridge have come to the party with their $30,000 Breeders Stakes at Saturday night's twilight meeting and being rewarded with a 17-horse field.
Programme it and they will come?
5. Baby racing
Alexandra Park hosts two juvenile races on Friday night, both heats of the Young Gun series. With the heats later and the final earlier (March 5) than usual there aren't many more chances for these boys and girls to find a pecking order.