Cody Morgan hopes the race that involved "probably the worst day" of his racing career will, come Saturday afternoon, provide him with his best experience.
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The Tamworth trainer, very much on the ascent, has prepared six-year-old gelding Unbiased for the $500,000 Country Championships Final (1400m) at Randwick on Saturday.
Two years ago, in the same race, his runner Pelerin was injured and had to be euthanised.
This year marks the 33-year-old's first appearance in the annual race since then. (Unbiased was the first emergency in 2018, and another of his runners, Moobi, is first emergency for Saturday's race.)
At the time it was probably the worst day I've had on a race track, and I've been doing this since I left school in year 9.
- Cody Morgan
As with Pelerin, Morgan co-owns Unbiased, an ex-Godolphin galloper, with his parents, Glenn and Mary. He saw his father cry for the first time when the decision was made to euthanise Pelerin.
Morgan vowed that he would return to the Country Championships Final. When Unbiased beat Tim's Principal by almost two lengths at Tamworth on March 10, to do that, Morgan shed a tear.
"At the time it [Pelerin's death] was probably the worst day I've had on a race track, and I've been doing this since I left school in year 9," he said.
"Racing's been my life, and that was the biggest race I'd ever been in. And for the horse to have to be put down ...
"As long as the horse [Unbiased] gets around safe and sound, and we can bring him home on Sunday, that's a win in itself for us."
Unbiased made the final after winning last month's Tamworth qualifier for the championships.
The winner of four of his 21 starts, Unbiased - to be ridden again by Mitchell Bell - was the fifth favourite for the final ($13) as of Friday afternoon, according to Sportsbet.
The Todd Blowes-trained Noble Boy - to be ridden by Winx hoop Hugh Bowman - was the favourite ($2.20).
Unbiased was dealt a blow when he drew barrier 19.
Despite the wide alley, Morgan said of the horse who has placed in seven other races and won $239,000 in prize money: "I think he can do really good things. I don't think he's any better than the favourite; the favourite's a really good horse. But him aside, I think we're as good a chance as any."
Saturday marks day one of The Championships, with the program also including the $3 million Doncaster Mile, the $2.5 million TJ Smith Stakes and the $2 million Australian Derby.
For the second time in his career, Morgan subsumed the attention of training a Sydney winner, when Moobi won a Highway Handicap at Warwick Farm in December.
He's in the midst of a career spike, saying his stable has gone from "maybe eight horses" last year to "nothing under 30" now.
"[I've] got great staff," he said. "I just want to be able to showcase Tamworth, and be predominate in the Country Championships and the Kosciuszkos, like [fellow Tamworth trainer] Mel O'Gorman has ... to be able to come down to these races more often would be great."
