Weetwood day in Toowoomba always has a special place in retired champion jockey Chris Munce’s heart and he is hoping for another feature win when he returns as a trainer.
Munce rode one of his first big winners on Count Henri in the 1989 Weetwood Handicap and remembers the day clearly.
“I was only a young kid and to win the Weetwood was a real boost to my career as it was also around the time I won the Magic Millions for the first time on Sunblazer,” Munce said.
“Weetwood day always brings back great memories for me.”
Munce has been training for the past 2-1/2 seasons and is rapidly closing in on 100 winners.
He doesn’t have a runner in the feature sprint but will be at the meeting with Captain Dodge in the Toowoomba Guineas and with Skate To Paris and Washington Street in the Two-Year-Old (1000m).
“I scratched Captain Dodge from the Sunshine Coast midweek and I felt he deserved a chance in a better race like the Guineas,” Munce said
Skate To Paris is likely to push on into the winter carnival but the trainer is uncertain whether to run her from a wide barrier on Saturday.
“We missed the Magic Millions with her because I have always felt she could be a winter horse at the longer two-year-old trips and then perhaps as an Oaks horse next season,” Munce said.
“But she has drawn badly against a smart field in one of the best races of the day. So I might save her for Saturday week in a fillies race.”
Munce has taken his time getting Washington Street to the races.
Washington Street wasn’t knocked about when fourth in a recent Sunshine Coast trial and Munce has an opinion of him.
