Crowds might not be allowed to attend on Sunday but the Gold Cup meeting at Dubbo Turf Club is shaping as one of the very best to be staged at the track.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
A massive 269 nominations for the eight-race meeting were released on Tuesday, with 31 of those for the $100,000 Dubbo Gold Cup feature.
There was also a star-studded 29 nominations - headlined by Kody Nestor's Kosciuszko hopefuls Cardiff and Jailbreak - for the $50,000 Flying Handicap sprint.
"We're absolutely stoked," Dubbo Turf Club Racing Manager Gavin Barlow said.
"I'm really excited to see the quality of horse nominated for the cup this year. Obviously it's a $100,000 race but there's a couple of horses that have been doing really solid things at the metropolitan level and in cups around here.
"It's a really quality field and I can't see one race on the card that doesn't have quality horses in it."
READ ALSO:
The cup has attracted a strong mix of local, regional, and city chances.
Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott stand out among the names and the famed training team has nominated multiple country cup winner Regal Stage while Dubbo Cup Prelude winner Heza Gentleman, trained at Hawkesbury by Mitch and Desiree Kearney, will also return.
One of the more interesting names in the mix is Ever Loyal, a new addition to the Muswellbrook stables of Sam Kavanagh.
A former listed level winner in New Zealand who's also finished second in a Group 3 race in the past, Ever Loyal has previously raced against the likes of Te Akau Shark and Dreamforce but hasn't raced since January of last year.
Those hopes could also go up against the likes of local area hopes Fast Talking and Toulon Brook from Nestor's stables, Clint Lundholm's Notabadieda, Kylie Kennedy's Narromine Cup winner Wild Rocket, and the Michael Mulholland-trained Wellington Cup winner Reward Seeker.
Also among the cup and Flying nominations are a number of gallopers targeting the $1.3 million Kosciuszko on October 16 at Randwick.
Cardiff and Jailbreak, currently $15 and $51 chances for the country feature respectively, fit that bracket.
Jailbreak won the Flying last year while Cardiff might not be a certainty to accept for Sunday given Nestor has previously opted to test his stable star in the city.
But also in Flying contention is fellow in-form Dubbo galloper Classy Rebel, from the stables of Dar Lunn, Canberra sprinter Washington Towers ($51), Scott Singleton's Partners ($51), and outsider Patrick May ($201).
There's probably four [Dubbo] horses racing on the day who all have a solid Kosciuszko chance.
- Gavin Barlow
Rule The World ($17), Jahbath ($41), Rich And Shameless ($51), and Brett Robb's A Magic Zariz ($201) are Kosciuszko contenders opting to contest the Gold Cup rather than the Flying.
That also creates plenty of interest while Barlow was particularly pleased to see Dubbo contenders Nestor, Lunn, and Robb in the mix.
"Cardiff and Jailbreak are two of the best sprinters we've got and two of the best country sprinters who have got very real Kosciuszko chances," he said.
"There's probably four [Dubbo] horses racing on the day who all have a solid Kosciuszko chance.
"This is the start of the Kosciuszko campaign for a lot of country horses and that's a good nod to our region."
Eight races are currently scheduled for Sunday's bumper showcase meeting - where the minimum prizemoney for each race is raised to $30,000 - but another could be added if Racing NSW decides to split the benchmark 58 race over 1300m which attracted 50 nominations.
It continues a strong run for the Dubbo club. While COVID restrictions means no punters are currently allowed at races in the state, the Dubbo club has been able to host high quality meetings while many others clubs around the region have been forced to cancel.
"We've had strong nominations all winter and it's been a very wet winter," Barlow added.
"We raced four times in six or seven weeks and they were all on very rain-affected tracks.
"Two were close to being abandoned but our nominations were still strong that whole time and that's full credit to Damien Johnston our track supervisor and his staff. They've done a fantast job."
The final fields for Sunday's meeting will be released on Thursday.
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
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.
