BROTHERS Peter and Garry Shepherdson won’t be wearing blinkers at Narrabri Paceway tonight, but the pair will have their sights firmly set on victory in three of the feature races.
The duo, along with Garry’s son Christopher in the gig, will be represented by Will Thrill in the 2160m Wee Waa Cup, Rhiannon Shannon in heat one of the 2160m Narrabri Cup and Place of Gold in the second heat, the final to be run next Sunday.
Several years ago the brothers took out “one of the cups”.
“Carrathool Fire won it – but I’m not sure which cup it was. He still holds the track record for the 2560m,” Peter said.
“Hopefully we’ll get two in the final this time.”
All three pacers, plus a fourth starter (Rowin For Glory, trained by Garry) will be driven by Peter’s nephew, Christopher Shepherdson.
“Place of Gold has been ultra -consistent,” Peter said.
“At one stage, he collected 15 cheques from 17 starts,” he said.
“He went off a bit after that, but seems to be coming back again now. It was a big run last start (when second, beaten five metres, over 1720m in Dubbo free-for-all).”
Rhiannon Shannon is expected to “improve markedly” on her last start 9th/10 over 1720m at Dubbo last week.
“She’s been a bit disappointing in the three since we took her over after she won the Joan Bullock Memorial at Tamworth (on February 6),” he said. “The fact that she doesn’t have to travel will help her chances – it will make a difference to all our horses.”
Though Peter has a soft spot for his brother’s Wee Waa Cup hopeful, Will Thrill, which has drawn “nicely” in the one
barrier.
“She’ll be up in the lead so will take some running down,” he said.
In her last start, the four-year-old mare can boast a neck second in Dubbo 2120m R1-R3 on March 1.
“Garry’s horse Rowin For Glory, who won a couple of starts back, galloped at the start and took Will Thrill with him,” Peter said.
“She gave the rest of them 50m but still managed to get up and finish second.”