POONCARIE Cup winner Our Destrier is out to add more silverware to the cabinet of Gawler trainer Brett Campbell with victory in Tuesday’s Wentworth Cup.
The eight-year-old gelding is set to start from the widest barrier of the five-horse main event at the annual racing carnival at Wentworth Showgrounds, however Campbell believes that, and the extra distance, won’t be an issue for his runner.
The $17,000 Wentworth Cup is over 1840 metres of dirt track compared to 1550 metres at Pooncarie.
The race will bear some similarities to Saturday’s Outback racing event with Wild Imagination from Murray Bridge trainer David Page, and Flight Deck from the stable of local trainer Cindy Brander, also in the hunt after coming third and sixth respectively in Pooncarie.
Watch Point, the seven-year-old gelding trained by Swan Hill’s Joe Kelly who came third at Wentworth last year, will start from the inside, while Cobar trainer Allan Prisk will enter Bolotti, starting from gate two with Nyssa Burrells in the saddle.
A Wentworth win would be extra special for the Campbell stable if it was to eventuate.
Firstly it would mark Barbados jockey Wesley Cave’s first win in Australia, after earning multiple placings since initially coming Down Under as a track rider for Tony McEvoy.
It would also be a first salute at Wenty for Campbell, a cup race his father trained multiple winners in.
“We like doing the country circuits, and we enjoy those days out much more than we do in the city,” the South Australian said.
“My dad has won the Wentworth Cup a couple of times as a trainer and I’ve spent many Melbourne Cup days in Wentworth, but since I’ve been training this will be my first time there.
“It’s always a good feeling winning these kinds of cups and hopefully we can do it again on Tuesday.
“We leased the horse and got him in particular for the Pooncarie Cup and to get the win there, we were absolutely over the moon.
“We thought we might then try and target a few more of these country cups, including Wentworth, and while he’s been a little disappointing on the last couple of runs I think getting back on to the dirt track will help him.
“That’s part of the reason we took him, he’s had a decent win in the Northern Territory before and has shown good form on this surface.
“This is obviously a longer distance but the way he works we’re confident he can do it. Our jockey from Pooncarie said afterwards that he could go further.”
Cave will also ride the Campbell-trained Supernature in the 1000m metre Maiden Plate in just its third start, and sprinter Royal Tyke in the Benchmark 58 Handicap.
Brander will aim to fly the flag for the locals with Flight Deck, as well as Winning Aura in the Benchmark 58 Handicap with Sophie Mitchell in the saddle.
The Cup race will be the fourth of five races for the afternoon with the jump scheduled for 3.20pm.
