Odegaard heads open Townsville Cup after Mackay Cup rematch

The first three runners past the post in the Mackay Cup will renew their keen rivalry in the $150,000 Townsville Cup on Saturday with Journalism, Smart Legend and Odegaard again primed for action.

Journalism saluted that day at the juicy odds of $14, getting home along the inside to keep Smart Legend, another runner at double figure odds on the day, back in second place by only a 0.17 length margin with Odegaard, the $6 second favourite snapping at their heels a further 0.65 lengths back.

This time around Journalism meets these two rivals on worse terms at the weights with Smart Legend being 1kg better off with the MacKay Cup winner and Odegaard having a favourable 2kg pull with Journalism and a 1kg advantage on the weight turnaround with Smart legend … handicapping which, in theory at least, means these runners could go to the line very close together.

The Townsville Cup is over 2000m, the same distance as the Mackay Cup.

The Lachie Manzelmann trained Journalism, who also has a fourth place finish in the Rockhampton Cup to his name, brings a strong and consistent all around form-line into the race. Including the Mackay Cup, he has won four of his last eights starts and finished second on two occasions. The downside is he is yet to win at Townsville in five attempts.

The Stephen Massinham trained Smart Legend hit a hot spot of form when landing back-to-back wins over 1400m and 1800m in May and he looks to be on his way back to that level of form with that second place in the Mackay Cup. He does have a win over the 2000m at Townsville to his credit and he looks to have the credentials to make a big claim here and improve on his result last year when he finished third in the 2025 Townsville Cup.

The Joshua Manzelmann trained Odegaard seldom runs a bad race. He finished close-up in the placings behind Journalism in both of his last two starts over 1800m and 2000m … close enough to suggest it will not be a surprise when his turn to win comes around. He has largely been kept to shorter, but those last two runs have clearly showed he is capable of stretching out well over more ground, and he should pose a big threat here.

Odegaard, who will be ridden by Bubba Tilly, has drawn barrier number one. Smart Legend and Ryan Wiggins are out in barrier number nine, while Journalism, if he is to complete the hat-trick of wins, will have to successfully negotiate a path from barrier number eleven with Adam Sewell given the responsibility of navigating that route.

The John Dann trained Quothquan, who won the Townsville Cup last year, could also be ready to give a big showing. He is clearly a better horse than his unplaced finish in the Mackay Cup might suggest, with his runner-up finish in the Rockhampton Cup arguably being the more representative result of his true ability. He can be expected to bounce back.

Watch out too for another South-East Queensland based trainer Lindsay Gough who sends Mahagoni out into Townsville Cup action. Mahagoni finished fifth in the MacKay Cup, coming home two lengths behind Journalism at totally unwanted odds of $51 with online betting sites. Gough is not prone to wasting his time or giving a horse a run to enjoy the scenery.

The Matt Kropp trained Leg Drive, the Matthew McGuire trained Going Nuclear and the Kristie Clark-Peoples trained Black Eyed Blonde (the second emergency) have all won two out of their last three starts … so they deserve respect on that alone … while Ages Care and John Joseph are both last start winners.

Odegaard ($4.80) is currently the race favourite in an open betting race in which less than two points separate the four main fancies.