SCONE Guineas winner Star Of Octagonal and Ramornie Handicap winning Youthful Jack headline nominations for Sunday’s $80,000 Carlton Mid Tamworth Cup (1400m) after 34 thoroughbreds were entered in Tamworth Jockey Club’s feature race yesterday.
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Star Of Octagonal won the $750,000 Inglis Scone Guineas back in 2010 and then fifth in the Randwick Guineas the same year.
The winner of $850,000 in prizemoney he is now trained by Aleacia Bennett after Todd Howlett had him for much of his brilliant career.
Also nominated is last year’s Ramornie Handicap winner, the Ross Stitt-trained Youthful Jack.
Stitt has also nominated recent Guyra Cup winner, Single Spirit.
They are part of a cup field including 2012 winner Universal Belief, who was runner-up to Prussian Secret last year and 10th to Knot Out in last week’s Cup Prelude, Walcha Cup winning Pitt Street (2013) and Jefferson Park (2014), Inverell Cup winning Wolfgangs Boy and Grafton Guineas and Dubbo Cup winning Kurtley. “We’re very happy with the noms,” TJC’s racings operation manager Victoria Toy said yesterday.
“We were hoping for good noms after increasing the prizemoney and we got that.
‘The Mornington noms are good too and the Jardel Cup noms have held up nicely .
“Everything’s on track now. We just have to set it all up for cup day.”
She said the guest appearance of Joe Janiak and fairytale horse, Takeover Target, was a bonus.
“Joe will also be our guest at the Calcutta (Saturday night) out here,” she said.
“And Takeover Target will also have a special gallop on cup day.”
While the TJC has excellent nominations, Scone trainer Luke Griffith is hoping for a successful cups weekend with runners in the cup and two main support races.
He has nominated three – Double Halo, Akamas and Star Of Dubai – for Sunday’s Tamworth Cup, Kwilas Law for the $25,000 Sean Hofman Electrical Mornington Handicap (2100m) and Sutton Luke in the Bath Stewart & Associates Jardel Cup (1200m).
He also has Star Of Dubai and I Love Legs in Saturday’s $15,000 Merriwa Cup (1350m).
“Double Halo and Akamas will definitely run in the Tamworth Cup but Star Of Dubai might go to Merriwa,’ Griffith said yesterday.
“Greg Ryan is going to ride Double Halo in the cup. He got caught wide on him and then he over-raced in the prelude the other day (fourth to Knot Out).
“It was a good effort, had a big weight and will drop for the cup.”