Mudgee trainer Cameron Crockett has fallen agonisingly short of scoring a place in the Country Championships Final for the second time in five weeks.
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Crockett’s Ori On Fire seemed set to earn a ticket to the $500,000 final when he trailed runaway leader Don’t Give A Damn down the straight in Sunday’s $50,000 Country Championships Wild Card.
But My Tagoson flashed home on the outside and in a three-way photo for second spot, Crockett’s hope was knocked back to fourth place.
Crockett and Ori On Fire ended up at Muswellbrook after finishing third in the Central Districts Qualifier at Mudgee on February 25, a race that was run in horrendous conditions.
While it was heartbreak for Crockett, it was a tale of redemption for Don’t Give A Damn and Danny Williams.
Don’t Give A Damn was a hot favourite for the Country Championships prior to the running of any heat this campaign but he produced a hugely disappointing run in the qualifier at Goulburn and finished tenth.
He pulled up lame and distressed after that event and Williams confirmed after Sunday’s win it was only a last-minute decision to head to Muswellbrook.
“I was 80 percent sure I wasn’t coming here yesterday (Saturday),” Williams told Sky Thoroughbred Central.
“He wasn’t the best and, to be honest, two days ago it was 100 percent chance he wasn’t coming. he was that bad.”
Some time in the water and on the beach at Moruya last week improved Don’t Give A Damn’s mood and wellbeing leading up to the Wild Card.
He was battling corns in the lead-up to Sunday and Williams confirmed it wasn’t until a farrier put new shoes and did some work with him that he made the decision to head to the Wild Card.
And now he’s in the final he will take some stopping.
Don’t Give A Damn ($1.85) controlled the race on Sunday, getting to the lead early with Kerrin McEvoy in the saddle, setting the pace into the straight, and then moving clear towards victory.
Ori On Fire ($8.50) jostled with Gitan ($10) for third spot behind Don’t Give A Damn and Mr Pumblechook ($20) before moving into second place in the run for home.
He held that position along the rail until the final stride, as Vega De Lago ($101) surged through the middle while My Tagoson ($31) flashed home on the outside to ultimately pinch the final ticket to Randwick.
Crockett’s fellow Mudgee trainer Mack Griffith endured a frustrating race with the highly-regarded Most Exalted.
Jumping as a $7 second favourite with Aaron Bullock in the saddle, Most Exalted moved to the extreme outside down the straight but couldn’t make enough ground and had to settle for ninth spot.
Of the other central west hopes, David Smith of Mudgee saw Stilettoed Vixen ($61) finish 11th, one spot ahead of Molasses ($101), trained at Forbes by Dennis Bush.
The Country Championships Final will be run at Randwick on Saturday during day one of the The Championships.
The Western racing Association will be represented by Good Host, trained at Dubbo by Justin Stanley, and Sea Lady from the Coonabarabran stables of Wayne Martyn.