Country trainers will have their biggest day on the Australian racing calendar when they head to the big smoke of Sydney on Saturday for the A$1.3 million The Kosciuszko (1200m) at Randwick and no one is more excited than Cody Morgan.
The Tamworth trainer will have two contenders in the race, including former Kiwi galloper Edit, who won over 1200m in his Australian debut at Tamworth last month.
Previously trained by Shaun and Emma Clotworthy in New Zealand, the son of Swiss Ace won two and placed in two of his six races in his homeland for owner-breeder Gerry Harvey before his sale to Australian Bloodstock.
Despite only having one start in Australia, Edit is eligible for the world’s richest race for country-trained horses because he had been in the care of Morgan for more than the nine month threshold.
Morgan said Edit doesn’t show a lot in his work at home, but he was pleased with his first-up win and believes he has improved with the run.
“He surprised me first-up,” Morgan told RacingHQ. “His trackwork is so-so, he is a big imposing horse. What he did was really good and he has come through it well.
“I had him in the trials (on Monday) but I spoke to Luke Murrell (Australian Bloodstock) and just felt I would rather gallop him then trial him on a Heavy9 track, it might just take the speed out of his legs.”
With rain forecast ahead of the weekend Morgan said he wouldn’t like to see the track get too heavy for his charge.
“I don’t know a great deal with Edit as far as how he would handle it (rain affected track), I would be more than happy for him to be on a six or seven, but I don’t know about a bog track. If we get the rain that is expected it will be a six or seven and that would be fine.”
Top Sydney hoop Hugh Bowman will ride Edit on Saturday adding to the spectacle for Morgan.
“It is a great thrill to be able to leg Hugh up in a race like that on a genuine chance,” he said.
Similar to the A$15 million The Everest (1200m), a start in The Kosciuszko is gained via negotiation with a slot-holder and connections of a selected horse.
$5 tickets in the Kosciuszko sweepstakes are sold through the New South Wales TAB, with Garry Algie, who lives in a mobile home on a friend’s property at Canyonleigh, in the Southern Highlands, the lucky sweepstakes winner that nominated Edit. – NZ Racing Desk
