BINALONG Road’s disappointing scratching from the recent $300,000 Country Championship Final at Randwick could have a morale-boosting Tamworth Cup finish.
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The Mudgee-trained gelding, who was scratched from the recent Country Championship Final at Randwick because of the heavy track, was one of 30 nominations for Sunday’s $80,000 Freight Specialists Tamworth Cup (1400m) yesterday.
There is every indication the track could be another rain-affected track on Sunday after yesterday’s rain and a prediction for more rain on Sunday.
That was something part-owner Peter Rees didn’t want to hear yesterday.
While the Boggabri farmer and grazier was cheering the welcome rain for his parched paddocks, he was hoping the Tamworth track dries out sufficiently and the rain stays away until after Sunday afternoon’s Tamworth Cup so Binalong Road can race at his best.
“We scratched him from the Country Championship because of his tendons,” Rees said yesterday.
“We were looking after the safety of the horse.
“He’s already done a tendon twice and had stem cell surgery. We didn’t want it to happen again.
“We’ve also nominated him in Sydney on Saturday but it looks like that will be a heavy track down there.
“We’re hoping Tamworth will dry out.”
Rees said stories of the gelding, who won a heat of the Country Championship at Bathurst in brilliant fashion, re-injuring his tendons were false.
Nothing could be further from the truth, he said.
“The horse is jumping out of his skin,” Rees said.
“I was talking to Mack (trainer Mack Griffith) and he said he is ready to rock and roll.
“Hopefully that will be at Tamworth on Sunday.”
Rees races Binalong Road with a number of owners “from all over the place” including Tamworth’s Rob Hislop, Scone’s Greg Hume and Mudgee-based trainer Mack Griffith and his wife Amy, along with a large syndicate managed by former Group 21 and Scone rugby league star Scott Pennell.
Rees said while the 30-strong Cup nomination list was a good one, “there’s nothing in there to scare us”.
“Kaypers will be hard to beat if he starts," he said of the Greg Bennett-trained gelding.
“Kurtley (Leon Davies), Jefferson Park (Craig Martin), Monashee Woods (Sue Grills) and Scorpio Queen (Kris Lees) are all handy and It’s A Shamozzle (Mary Moses) won the Tamworth Cup Prelude well two weeks ago.”
Scone-based Moses said after that win It’s A Shamozzle would return for the Cup if the track wasn’t hard.
The rain could not have come at a better time for her and her gelding.
It’s A Shamozzle has won four of his nine starts.
Meanwhile, Falvina and Rhodonite will carry topweights in Saturday’s $6000 West Armidale Business House Diggers Cup at Armidale if they start.
The Lea Selby-trained warhorse Rhodonite received 59.5kg as did Mark Hatch’s Falvina.
