MUSWELLBROOK Race Club copped a Wild Card double-whammy yesterday from the late addition to the wonderfully successful Country Championships.
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The MRC received a huge 180 nominations to Sunday’s Wild Card Singleton Cup meeting, 28 to the $50,000 Country Championships Wild Card, 23 to the Glencore - Women In Mining Singleton Cup and a 38 in another support race, a benchmark 55 1280m handicap.
MRC chief executive Helen Sinclair was elated with such a strong result.
They had been initially excited when given the chance to stage the Wild Card, a race added to the seven Country Championship Qualifiers held across the State over the past month.
The first two past the post in Sunday’s Wild Card will gain a start in the $300,000 Country Championship Final at Randwick on April 4 (Doncaster Handicap day).
“It is such a unique race now added to the other heats,” Helen Sinclair agreed.
“While the heats could only draw runners from their own assocaitions the Wild Card enables horses from all over the country (who competed in the various qualifying heats) to race here.”
That includes such trainers as renowned southern trainer Barbara Joseph (Because We All Can) who won the inaugural Prime 100,000 at Tamworth with Merimbula Bay, Bathurst’s peter Stanley (King Derota) and coastal trainers such as Bart Dening (Cash Spinner), Marc Quinn (First Class To Rio), Grant and Colt Prosser, and western trainers such as Clint Lundholm (Any Blinkin’ Day), Dar Lunn (Playing Game).
It also allows the likes of local gallopers Artlee (Todd Willan), In A Wink (Greg Bennett) and Gelsomina and St Luke (Leon Davies), and Southern Orders (Jane Clement) to gain a late entry to the Final.
The spinoff,Sinclair also noted, was the fact the visiting trainers for the Wild Card have also nominated runners in the supporting races.
“They will throw a couple of other horses on the float to come as well,” she said.
“That’s great for our meeting.”
It means a race such as the B55 1280m handicap has gigantic 38 nominations.
“We could look at dividing that race.”