Melanie O'Gorman's So Country picked up a win at Gilgandra on Monday

The five-year-old gelding proved to be just too good in the end during the Nutrien Ag Solutions Gilgandra / Bob Foran Memorial Gilgandra Town Plate (1100m) to take a narrow win.

Following the victory, O'Gorman confessed to Sky Thoroughbred Central she has high hopes for the gelding and is hopeful he can continue to rise through the racing ranks.

"I thought I'd love to have him in the Country Championships heat at Tamworth in early March," she said.

"I'm pretty sure his rating now should be high enough to secure a start so that will be my main focus."

Gilgandra had issues with their track over the longer distance but the showcase sprint race began without any interruption with Dar Lunn's Classy Rebel ($12) getting off to a strong start.

Classy Rebel led from Moetta ($3.30) early as the pair kicked away from the rest of the field, including Safado ($10) and So Country ($2.45).

O'Gorman's gelding led the remaining runners alongside Safado as they rounded onto Gilgandra's notorious straight.

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From there it look as if So Country was going to kick away for an easy win but Moetta came home very strongly and was unlucky not to grab a win for trainer Brett Robb.

Safado finished third ahead of Classy Rebel, with the latter showing signs of a return to form after a lean period.

The win for So Country was his first since July 2022, when the gelding had success at Rosehill while Monday's victory was also Mikayla Weir's first ride on the horse.

Having never ridden the horse before, O'Gorman felt Weir did everything she needed to do.

"Mikayla did a great job, he's just such an honest horse and he always puts in a great run," she said.

"He knows where the line is."

Unfortunately for Robb and Moetta, it was another place finish after now going six races without a victory, having not won since July 2022.

However, the mare has been impressive during those last six races, with five placings to her name.

It wasn't all bad for Robb however, as Sizzle Minizzle took out the Trev Rogers Electrical / Bryan Dixon Racing Class 2 Handicap (1200m).

The win was the second of the day for Robb and jockey Clayton Gallagher, as the latter picked up three victories for the day after combining with Brett Thompson.

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