As long as Red Knot keeps performing, Rodney Northam is going to send the country cup campaigner around.
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A regular on the cup circuit, Red Knot heads to Coonabarabran on Monday for the $45,000 feature event.
It marks his eighth start this preparation and comes after he took out the Coonamble Cup last time out.
“He’s been a great horse and he’s got to grade now where he’s competitive in all the cup races so we keep taking him there and he’s a chance of getting among the money,” Tamworth-based Northam told the Daily Liberal.
“We’ll just keep racing him while he’s racing well.”
Apprentice Reece Jones, who has been with Northam for roughly two years now, will again have the ride having piloted the six-year-old gelding to a half-length win at Coonamble.
The pair will go from barrier five and while Northam expects Red Knot to get a good run from there, he’s wary of some extra speed.
Smart Attire, from the Wellington stables of Karen McCarroll, is expected to get away well and the same goes from the Jarrod Austin-trained Hirokin.
“There’s a lot more speed than there was at Coonamble so he (Red Knot) might not get his own way but he’s in-form and gets in well with the claim so he should be there or thereabouts,” Northam said.
“He’ll go forward but if someone wants to be silly he doesn’t have to lead. If it’s easy enough he’ll lead but he doesn’t have to, he can take a sit and put pressure on when they’re heading to home.”
Red Knot was handed 60kg for the 1600m Coonabarabran Cup but Jones’ 4kg claim offsets that in a big way.
Another experienced cup regular, Cecil Hodgson’s A Magic Zariz, will carry the top weight even with Wendy Peel’s claim and will jump from barrier six next to Red Knot.
Northam’s hope opened a $3.70 favourite while there was six other hopes which opened in the single figures.
Among them is the Mack Griffith-trained Schedule, back in the western region after winning at Port Macquarie last time out.
Chad Lever will ride Schedule while champion hoop Greg Ryan will pilot Dapperized for Griffith’s fellow Mudgee-based trainer, Gayna Williams.
Dapperized has wins at Mudgee and Gunnedah in his past three starts.
While the cup is the main event, the Regional Australia Bank & Ausure Insurance Cup Day Sprint (1100m) also features plenty of class.
The Cameron Crockett-trained Nictock, Dennis Bush’s Molasses, Our Dasha from the Derek Piper stables and Alison Smith’s Absolute Ripper will contest the sprint.
Racing starts at 1.20pm on Monday with the Coonabarabran Cup seventh up at 5.05pm.