Do you believe in miracles?
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You absolutely should.
And that’s exactly why, when you win a ticket for the $1.3 million The Kosciuszko – the world’s richest country race announced by Racing NSW just last week – you should pick a country trainer.
You know the ones, too - a real country trainer.
Not one of the concrete cowboys.
Every trainer dreams of having a runner in these kinds of races, and country trainers are no exception.
Highway handicaps, the country championship and now this, a million-dollar race.
So if given the chance to make someone’s dream come true, take it – pick a bushie.
The ride to Royal Randwick will be one to remember … and given it takes just $5 to buy a ticket, the return via the huge prizemoney pool, no matter where your runners finishes, would be worth it.
Here’s who this region’s sports journos would pick. Do we dare to dream?
Nick Guthrie
HORSE: Sharpe Hussler.
TRAINER: Cameron Crockett, Mudgee.
Obviously a horse like The Monstar is going to take some beating, having won a Group 2 in the past, while turning to the stables of Danny Williams or Matthew Dale is also tempting.
However, I want to stay in the local area and for that reason I'm going with Cameron Crockett's Sharpe Hussler.
He's not as well known as stablemates Nictock or Ori On Fire but the Mudgee-based gelding has got the runs on the board in sprint events and is fine form, with only illness stopping him from being put forward for the highly-regarded Ramornie in Grafton recently. Plus, I'd definitely get tasty odds for him in the final.
What's not to like?
Matt Findlay
HORSE: Absolute Ripper
TRAINER: Alison Smith, Orange
I've been waiting for this thing to come back from the paddock and finally, just in time for this column, Absolute Ripper is back, baby!
Fresh from a eight-month spell the mare held off some quality horses in a trial at Dubbo last Friday, including Cam Crockett's much-spruiked, would-be chance Sharpe Hussler.
Take whatever you want from that but considering Absolute Ripper wasn't in magnificent form before that spell, after watching her cruise on Friday I'll be more than happy to bang Alison Smith's door down to try and get this five-year-old in The Kosciuszko if I win a slot.
She's got wins on the board, while they're all over 1000 or less and she's battled when lifted up to 1400, I'd back her over the 1200-metre trip.
Alexander Grant
HORSE: Victorem.
TRAINER: Jenny Graham, Port Macquarie.
My choice would have to be Victorem, the popular winner of this year's Country Championships.
His barnstorming run to the line in that race certainly caught my attention and thrust Port Macquarie trainer Jenny Graham into the spotlight.
The I Am Invicible gelding is living up to his sire's name with five wins from seven starts, and almost backed up his Country Championships win with a Hawkesbury Guineas success.
The big question is how well the young horse would back up as a four-year-old but you simply can't ignore that stellar Country Championships run.
Pete Guthrie
HORSE: Zarhron.
TRAINER: Andrew Molloy, Cowra.
A ticket to a slot in the Kosciusko would see me invite Cowra trainer Andrew Molloy and the King of Cowra Zarhron to Royal Randwick on October 13.
The race is made for the son of Zariz who is a specialist over the 1200m trip.
He registered a fourth straight Japan Cowra Cup victory over the distance while lugging a mammoth 65kg in January this year.
A Bill Aspros Cup win over 1200m at Bathurst in 2017 and two victories in Wellington Town Plates at 1100m in 2015 and 2016 further highlights the trip suits him.
The champion sprinter loves racing in the summer months and has been called back to the stable earlier than expected purely to get in tune for the Kosciusko.
It'd be a true fairy tale for connections, with a city victory the final piece of the puzzle for the eight-year-old gelding.
Nick McGrath
HORSE: Bezel
TRAINER: David J Smith, Mudgee.
Absolu …
That’s as far as I got typing Absolute Ripper’s name in Racing NSW’s search tab before Matt Findlay highlighted to me the Alison Smith trained mare was indeed back, baby. Moving on ...
So I’ll go with a favourite from one of my favourite stables, Bezel is a star for David J Smith and has recorded five wins, all of which are over distances that would suggest the four-year-old is a real shot at the huge prizemoney on offer at Royal Randwick.
The most impressive run? There’s a few, but saluting over 1550m at Kensington where the bay gelding showed great speed to win by two lengths, beating home four Chris Waller horses, was simply stunning.
Has run in a Group 2 – although he missed the start – and he’s won at Randwick, too, against a class field in a highway and that’s important, given the The Kosciusko is at the ATC’s base.
Wouldn’t be out of place in this race, not by a long shot.
Mr E. Tipster
HORSE/ENTRANT: Goat.
TRAINER: Michael Plummer, Orange.
There's plenty of runners around the central west I'd consider throwing into The Kosciuszko if I won a slot, but instead I'd give Towac Park fan favourite Goat a crack at the massive winner's cheque.
Goat's a steadfast fixture of Michael Plummer's stable and has developed a cult following in Orange racing circles, acting as a calming influence for Plummer's new additions.
Goat's history is shrouded in mystery, but some have said in the past his calming influence was born from years spent living with and learning from Mongolia's nomadic Kazakh tribe.
He's also rumoured to have actually won the Marathon des Sables - one of the world's most arduous ultra marathons, run each year in the Sahara Desert - some time ago, so it would seem racing is in his blood.
Although, considering that's a six-day, 251-kilometre epic he's clearly a stayer, rather than a 1200-metre specialist.
#GoatforTheKosciuszko