Goulburn trainer Danny Williams will get the help of a rival trainer as he takes a team of horses to Muswellbrook for Sunday’s Country Championships Wild Card race (1280m).
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The event, designed to give potential Country Championships runners one last chance to qualify for the final, is worth $50,000 and will feature the best country horses that missed out on making the final in one the first six heats.
I thought she’d just win at Goulburn but the rain we had stopped her chances.
- Danny Williams
Last year Artlee came through the Wild Card race to win the big prize, which will be showcased at Royal Randwick on day one of The Championships on April 2.
Williams will run Ashjata, Shutter Bug and La Bella Rouge after all three missed out on finishing first or second to make the $400,000 final when Goulburn hosted its heat on February 20.
But it’s a five-hour trip from Goulburn to Muswellbrook and Williams was thankful Greg Bennett, trainer of Invienna and fellow Wild Card trainer, offered him a few of his boxes at Scone to house his runners.
“We’re both horseman who are very hands-on and I guess we come from similar backgrounds so it’s nice of him to help me out,” Williams said.
“The 1280-metre distance is a good thing to have before backing up into a 1400-metre race.
“I think it will all come down to the best ride and which horses get the best runs because there’s not much between the top six.”
Ashjata was desperately unlucky not to qualify at Goulburn when she finished third after an interrupted lead-up to the race.
Williams then ran her at her home track over 1000 metres on March 10 where she flew home to win.
“She was very good that day and it was a very robust and strong effort and I think she sent out a bit of a warning to the other horses going toward Muswellbrook.
“She was definitely unlucky at Goulburn and it was an extremely good effort considering the circumstances going into that race. She was underdone because I couldn’t work her as much as I wanted,” he said.
Willams said she was three lengths better heading into Sunday’s race compared to her run at Goulburn.
“Invienna will be hard to beat. She beat Ashjata once but we got caught five-wide that day I’m hoping we can reverse that result.”
While stablemate La Belle Rogue will race handy on the day, Williams said she was a bit behind Ashjata and his other runner, Shutter Bug.
Shutter Bug is one he rates most highly.
“I thought she’d just win at Goulburn [qualifier] but the rain we had stopped her chances,” Williams said.
“She’s a better horse than that and I put her just ahead of Ashjata. I think she’s not only my best chance in the race but the best I’ve got in my stable at the moment.”
- Matt Jones has been interested in horse racing since backing Jeune in the 1994 Melbourne Cup. He wrote for Fairfax before joining Racing NSW. thechampionships.com.au
