WHILE a total of 16 meetings across NSW will coincide with today’s nation-stopping Melbourne Cup, local trainer Leon Davies will focus his attention on both Tamworth and Muswellbrook, especially the $50,000 Vinery Muswellbrook Gold Cup (1500m).
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The Tamworth trainer has four starters at the two meetings, two at today’s non-TAB five-race meeting in Tamworth and two at today’s Muswellbrook Race Club Muswellbrook Cup meeting. Davies, the only Tamworth trainer to venture afield today, will start Keen As and Achanizo at Tamworth while stablemates Noonameena and Kurtley will travel south to Skellatar Park for the MRC’s Vinery Muswellbrook Gold Cup meeting.
He’s engaged jockey Darren Jones to ride Keen As (1400m maiden plate) and topweight Achanizo (1200m class one handicap) while Andrew Adkins and Kody Nestor will guide Noonameena (1280m benchmark 55 handicap) and Kurtley (1500m Vinery Muswellbrook Gold Cup) respectively.
Davies’s best chance could be classy five-year-old Kurtley, despite having his first look at the Muswellbrook track in today’s $50,000 Muswellbrook Cup.
From six wins so far, Kurtley can boast victory in last year’s 1600m Grafton Guineas, and a similar assault on rivals in Canterbury BM 72 over 1580m in his following start.
Two starts later in September, he took out the 1600m Dubbo Gold Cup.
Today he’ll be resuming after his third of 10 over 2100m at Doomben back in July. But he can boast a win and two placings from five first-up attempts.
Also in his favour today will be recent victories in open barrier trials at Tamworth (1000m) and Scone (900m). Both times he was ridden by jockey Kody Nestor who will take the reins again today.
Davies, who will accompany Kurtley on his trip south, considers today’s Gold Cup an open race but fancies the Kris Lees’ trained Pitt Street (runner-up in the 1450m South Muswellbrook Cup a fortnight ago) the “possible danger”.
“That was a sizzling run, but Kurtley will be trying all the way,” Davies said.”
“It’s probably a big ask, 1500m first up, but back in the Guyra Cup over 1400m at Armidale, he flew home and was only beaten a length first up. His two recent barrier trial wins were impressive, and Kody’s ridden him plenty of times before so he will do a good job.”
Noonameena is a “good each way chance” according to her trainer while his two Tamworth starters rate only fairly. “Keen As will need to improve markedly on his two back from a spell. And for Achanizo to do any good, we’d need to get a fair bit of rain,” he said.
“He won a barrier trial (1000m) at Tamworth, but then couldn’t handle the rock hard track at Coonamble – didn’t try at all.”