If the depth of form on the current leader board of the 2017 NSW Picnic Champion Series is any indication, then punters are in for a real treat come Sunday, September 17 when the final is staged at Dubbo Turf Club.
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Black Fusion, who won the Boorowa Picnic Cup (1700m) two starts back, came out a week later to claim the Leeton Cup (1600m) in dogged fashion.
He is now third on the points score for the picnic series on 30 points, trailing Sergeant Bilko (52) and As Easy As (42).
Sergeant Bilko has scored one win and two second-placed finishes in his past five starts, with the win coming in the Tullibigeal Picnic Cup on March 25.
Now fourth on the ladder is Zaphod, trained at Narromine by Kylie Kennedy, and he also franked the picnic form.
After finishing third to Black Fusion at Boorowa, he then led all the way to win the final race over 1600m on Parkes Cup Day last Sunday (TAB meeting).
The win was his fifth in 28 starts but continued his fine run of form.
Zaphod, ridden by Jake Pracey-Holmes on Sunday, has won three of his past five while finished third in the other two.
Double Halo, after winning last Saturday's Bligh Picnic Trophy (1000m) at Mudgee, has also moved up the ladder to now be on 23 points.
None of the current top horses on the ladder will contest this weekend’s Moree Picnic Cup, which will give others the chance to make up ground and boost finals chances.
Hometown trainer Peter Sinclair has one of the main hopes with Track Flash having not run worse than fourth in his past four starts.
The Mallawa picnics follows on June 10.
The points scoring began at Harden in 2016, with the NSW Picnic Champion Series Final set to be run on Dubbo Gold Cup Day (Sunday, September 17) with $50,000 in prizemoney on offer.
To qualify, horses will acquire points for every picnic race meeting they attend in NSW, with the highest ranking horses at the end of the 12 months being eligible to nominate for the Picnic Champions Final.
All horses except Maidens are eligible to qualify.