New scenery works wonders for Kooringa Wagtail at Kennerson Park

Casino trainer Mitchell Northfield had previously trained Kooringa Wagtail, before he sent her down to his mate Mark Wicks, who is based at Forest Reefs, between Orange and Blayney.

And on Monday afternoon in the rain, Wicks watched on as his $2.90 chance finished strongly to claim victory ahead of race favourite Lexus Herrera ($1.65) in the GBOTA Welcome Maiden (307 metres).

Wicks said he was pleased with the performance from the black bitch.

"I'm very happy with her," he said.

"A mate sent her down from Casino. I wasn't expecting too much but she's done well. He sent her down here for something different, maybe it's a little bit easier for her.

"It seems like it's worked out pretty well for her."

She does have her ups and downs in the kennel, but at the end of the day, she's a dog that Wicks is happy to train.

"She's noisy in the kennel but other than that, she's a pretty little dog," he said.

Lexus Herrera had the best time in the first section with 7.99 seconds, but it was Kooringa Wagtail's sprint in the home stretch was the difference, winning in a time of 17.94 seconds.

The rain wasn't going to stop the race from going ahead, rather it was the rising Macquarie River that looked the biggest threat to the 11-race meeting, with the water getting within a couple of metres of the track at one stage.

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