The Country Championships have been a huge success with the country region of NSW getting a real boost in terms of awareness, excitement and possibilities. Everyone has really got behind the concept knowing they could be the ones leading in the winner at Randwick with a prize pool of $400,000 on offer.
This is what dreams are made of when it comes to the fairytale story we all love to hear about in horse racing. While we all revel in the success of the bluebloods and top tier jockeys and trainers we also love to get behind a battler who has climbed to the top of the mountain. That is what the Country Championships are all about.
On Saturday at Randwick the city of Dubbo will be represented by a seven year old gelding by the name of ‘Something Borrowed’. Up until a few months ago he was trained by John McKinnon who had to give up training the horse so he could travel to Sydney to undergo treatment for leukaemia.
Step forward ex-jockey Justin Stanley who is also based in Dubbo and a good mate of McKinnon’s. He has only been training for a few years and normally has between ten to fifteen horses in training. John asked Justin if he could take over the training of ‘Something Borrowed’ for him and
Justin naturally helped out his mate.
Since then he has trained the gelding for two second places before winning the Country Championship Qualifier at Dubbo earlier this month.
The Country Championship was always on the cards for ‘Something Borrowed’ and he was aimed at this race long before Justin took over the reigns. Stanley said of the gelding, ‘He can go on any sort of track conditions and he is a tough little horse. It’s a tough field down there I can tell you that. He’s at good odds and probably should be but I would be happy if he ran a place. He is a good honest horse and is probably looking for a little further now but we shall see how he goes on the day’.
When asked what the Country Championships mean to the area Stanley says, ‘It is great for the bush trainers. It is a great thing. Everyone at the track is trying to get a horse for next year. Every stable is looking for one and it has really brightened up country racing in a lot of areas. Everyone is getting interested and it is a big plus for racing all-round’.
While Stanley and the owners will be oncourse at Randwick to watch ‘Something Borrowed’ in the Final McKinnon will be resting up at home cheering with the rest of Dubbo. The gelding may not win this weekend however he has put a smile on the face of many people in Dubbo and you can be sure that both Justin and John will talk about the day for a long time to come.
The Country Championships are what racing is all about.
