Michael Mulholland will wait to see how Reward Seeker pulls up from Friday's Orange Gold Cup win before deciding whether to spell the lightly-raced stayer or take him to the city.
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The Wellington trainer saw the five-year-old gelding make it three successive wins when jockey Jake Pracey-Holmes flew home from deep in the field to claim Friday's $67,500 feature at Towac Park.
Mulholland confirmed after the race a trip to Sydney could be on the cards and he'd be worth watching there after such a scintillating start to life in the bush.
After bouncing around stables early in his career, Reward Seeker moved to Mulholland's stables having had six trials across two years without actually having a race.
He's made up for lost time and Friday's commanding win took his record to five wins from 11 career starts.
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His wins in the two races prior to Friday came with Greg Ryan in the saddle but the champion jockey opted to team up with the Bjorn Baker-trained Shock Alert in the main event.
He was left to rue his choice as Pacey-Holmes motored home to take the win but it was still another successful day for the stalwart of bush racing as he rode a mid-meeting treble.
Ryan won with Baker's Moon Panthers and Gary Portelli's Extreme Jewel before taking out the day's short-course fetaure, the $31,500 Inland Digital Cup Day Sprint (1000m), with the Greg McFarlane-trained Golden Tycoon.
Golden Tycoon ($3.30 favourite) held a half-length lead to Absolute Ripper ($10) after the turn but as the post got closer, the cream rose to the top with Greg McFarlane getting the chocolates by a length and fighting off a fast-finishing Pleasant ($6) who came from the back of the pack to score second.
The 2100m cup followed the sprint, and Pracey-Holmes got every inch of effort out of the winning horse in an eye-catching finish.
The win also continued Mulholland's fine run with stayers, with Steamin' having notably won Dubbo's Gold Cup feature last year.
Running second was Matthew Dale's Shanghai Patrol ($19), followed by another outsider in Celtic Love ($13).
It was the favourite Zoffany's Lad ($3.70) who looked the good for the vast majority of the race, zooming from the outside gate early on to snatch a commanding lead from the rest of the field.
Trainer, Joseph Ible would have been licking his chops when his five-year-old gelding came around the bend with a two-length lead but all the work Brodie Loy had the horse do in the opening exchanges might have been too much to overcome at the business end as it finished fourth.
No Dubbo trainers found themselves among the placings during the eight-race meeting.
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Nick Guthrie
I started working at the Daily Liberal in 2013 and now hold the position of senior journalist. I cover all that's happening in sport in Dubbo and the wider western area and have a passion for doing so. If you've got a story that needs telling, reach out.
I started working at the Daily Liberal in 2013 and now hold the position of senior journalist. I cover all that's happening in sport in Dubbo and the wider western area and have a passion for doing so. If you've got a story that needs telling, reach out.
