THE new season is heralded in several days early with the Cloncurry Winter Races to be held at Schumacher Park on Saturday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
There are 45 horses nominated in the day’s racing.
The five races include the 1000 metre Brodie & Co BenchMark 60 Handicap.
Nine nominations in the BenchMark include World of Pain, trained and owned by Mount Isa’s Philip Miller.
Miller contemplates if he will have a horse entering the Mount Isa Cup next weekend but in the meantime he readies himself for his one entry at the Winter Races.
World of Pain will be ridden by jockey Tamara Tincknell – noted by a representative of the local racing industry for the number of winners she has been riding of late.
Miller believes World of Pain to be the third favourite in the BenchMark.
World of Pain came first out of 10 horses in the BenchMark 45 Handicap in Mount Isa on May 7.
He was also first in Cloncurry in the race previously, in Cloncurry on April 2.
However, World of Pain now competes in a tougher class, his trainer noted.
Miller suggests Skazia, trained by Winton Shire’s Cameron Browne and to be ridden by Heidi Laffin, will be tough to beat.
Skazia came third out of 10 horses in Longreach last week.
Denise Ballard’s Murrumbidgee will also likely best World of Pain, Miller predicted.
Murrumbidgee will be ridden by Mrs Ballard’s son Dan. There’s a powerful combination there.
As he noted on social media, Ballard and his mother have the best trainer and jockey strike rate across Australia – having a winning strike rate of 39.6 per cent of their races.
“It’s very special to share success with the ones you love," Ballard said.
Murrumbidgee came first of nine horses at the Gregory Downs’ BenchMark 60 Handicap on April 30.
The day’s racing begins with the 1200 metre QTIS Class 2 Handicap – which starts at 1.15pm and has nine horses scheduled to compete. Two horses are trained by Ballard. Her son Dan is to ride Bush Lawyer.
Bush Lawyer came fifth in the same race won by Murrumbidgee.