Nominations released for Country Championships heat at Mudgee
Bathurst trainers Gayna Williams and Dean Mirfin headline the nominations for Sunday's $150,000 Central Districts Country Championships Qualifier at Mudgee Race Club.
The nominations were released on Tuesday and Williams and Mirfin put forward three chances each - the former's trio headlined by defending champion Healing Hands - while Wellington trainers Michael Mulholland and Peter Stanley are also in the mix.
There were 17 nominations in total for the feature event, with Mulholland having in-form pair Old Harbour and Reward Seeker among them while veteran Stanley was represented by Not Negotiating.
The heat at Mudgee is the fourth of this year's series and headlines a bumper day of racing at Mudgee.
READ ALSO:
There were 192 nominations in total for the eight-race meeting, with a number of western area trainers putting forward chances as they continue building towards their $150,000 heat at Coonamble on March 14.
The Central Districts heat - offering two tickets to April's $500,000 final, is Sunday's main event and Williams will be aiming for a top-two finish for the fourth successive year.
Healing Hands won last year's heat before running fifth in the rich final.
That final in April of last year remains the six-year-old gelding's most recent start but he has had two in the past month and finished second at Hawkesbury in the most recent of those.
Williams has also nominated Chevconi and From The Bush while Mirfin put forward Buzzoni, Hamogany, and Supergaze.
Gulgong trainer Brett Thompson is another who has in-form gallopers in the mix.
Amy's Shadow and Slatey Bay were nominated by Thompson and it's been confirmed the former will have a high-profile jockey in the saddle.
Jason Collett will ride Amy's Shadow, having piloted the exciting mare to Highway wins at Rosehill and Randwick last year.
Those wins impressed the experienced city hoop and he's got no doubt Amy's Shadow is the kind of horse which could make an impact in the final at Randwick is she qualifies.
"I made an effort that day to try to have her a bit closer at Rosehill, she was out of her comfort zone the whole race and was able to kick. That said to me she has a bit more than most Highway horses," Collett told Racing NSW.
"The second win was really good over a mile on Spring Champion Day and they tried her up over 2000m a month later but it was all probably a bit much.
"In a high pressure 1400m back at Randwick it would suit. We have to get there first."
Also nominated for Sunday's qualifier was Parkes trainer Sharon Jeffries' Coulpa, the Mack Griffith-trained Amicus Curiae, Dennis Bush's Crown Dancer, the Mark Milton-trained Harley Fat Boy, and Bathurst pair Pop Power and Smart Decision, trained by Wanda Ings and Roy McCabe respectively.
Final fields are released on Thursday.
Facebook has banned news from its platform. You can read our response here.
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow us on Google News