IT doesn’t get any bigger than having a record $370,000 prizemoney and the $150,000 Country Qualifier for The Championships again being staged at Bushland Drive Racecourse this Sunday by Taree Wingham Race Club.
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Nearly 3000 people flocked to the course last year and watched two Taree gallopers fight out the qualifier before great runs in the $400,000 Country Final over 1400m at Royal Randwick last April.
Bob Milligan’s filly Another Valley won the qualifier from Cliff Bashford’s Ever So Natural and the table was turned in the final with Ever So Natural (third) finishing just in front of Another Valley (fourth).
Will the qualifier be a repeat with the two trainers fighting out the finish again with their charges or will “new kid” on the block, four-year-old Taree mare Shotgun Roulette, deny them?
No sooner had Ever So Natural earned $44,000 in the final, Bashford was making plans to have the now five-year-old gelding in this year’s qualifier.
Under the race conditions, gallopers from the Mid North Coast Racing Association are only eligible for this qualifier, they must win or run second to qualify for the final and they must be no more than a class five horse and have no more than 20 starts.
Bashford had to fit in two barrier trials for his gelding before racing again, that start resulting in an emphatic win over 1208m at Port Macquarie at its 19th start on February 11.
