Local man Billy Owen celebrated his second Gundagai Cup victory in 2021 after guiding Maid Of Ore, 61 kgs to victory in the 1800m feature for leading Queanbeyan trainer Nick Olive.
Can Billy and Nick win another Gundagai feature when the 2025 Gundagai Cup is run and won on Sunday. FB.
The XXXX Gold Gundagai Cup meeting is being held this Sunday, April 6 and there’s been more than 200 nominations come in across the eight race card.
The Hahn Super Dry Class 2 Handicap over 1400 metres has attracted 40 nominations itself.
The Times spoke with Tumut Trainer Kerry Weir about some of his chances.
“I think we have five going. The nominations were massive. If they all get runs they will all go. I think it was 200 nominations, which was huge. They usually get about 120 noms, but this time they got about 215 or something like that, it was unbelievable.”
“There’s a lot of horses about at the moment.”
“They’ve been putting a bit of water on the track and they haven’t raced on it for quite a while so it should be pretty good.
“We’ve got a little filly called Jessie Doll, she’s only had two starts for a win and a third. She doesn’t go too bad. She’s the pick out of my five at the moment.”
Jessie Doll won on a soft 6 at Tumut on February 8 before going down by just .19 of a length in to 3rd position at Wagga on March 1, meaning she is well placed for Gundagai if Kerry accepts.
“I’ve got about 16 or 17 in work at the moment. I try and keep around the 15 mark, it’s a good manageable number, you don’t want too many. You get too many you might cut too many corners.”
“Jessie Doll is starting her first prep. She won first up and then ran third in a pretty strong race at Wagga. She’s a pretty impressive filly.”
“Gundagai should suit her if she gets out and gets running. She’s only a little filly, she won’t grow much more than what she is now.”
Weir has spent decades in the game and started out as a track work jockey before he hit high school.
“I started out as a jockey. I’ve been in racing about 44 years now. I turned 56 the other day.
“I’ve been riding track work since I was about nine or ten and I was a jockey for four years. I got too heavy and was too tall and I liked my food. All jockeys like food because they are not supposed to eat it.
Before settling on training he said, “I went and did the normal sort of things, rodeoing, polocrosse. My Dad was a race-horse Trainer in Tumut and when he retired I took over.”
When asked what keeps him going with the early starts and long days, he said, “That’s all I’ve ever done. I couldn’t go and work in a mill or anything.”
“We start at 4am so you are in bed pretty early, seven days a week. It’s all I’ve ever done, so you get used to it.”
Kerry has the pleasure of being the only Trainer in Tumut and runs his operation from his home track.
“We are the only Trainers here in Tumut. We’ve got a good set of trackwork riders and strappers so we are pretty lucky.
Wagga Trainer Darrell Burnet who is married to Brittany Burnet (nee Heywood) formerly of Harden will be headed for the Gundagai Races with two chances on Sunday in Spirit Lake in race 4 and Broken Image in race 8. Spirit Lake had a good run last start at Cowra and lost by one length.
“I think she will go okay but I think it will be a pretty hot race,” said Burnet. “She will line up as she was scratched from Wagga last week with a bad barrier draw, so she’s in need of a race.”
“There’s Rocket Rudee of Wayne Carroll’s and Jato of Danny Beasley’s alongside Miss Mikki Isle which is a horse that I used to train, now with Todd Smart. I think it will be a hot race and I think barriers will play a big role when they come out.”
“Broken Image is going well and just missed in a 1000m Maiden last time in and went to Moruya and wasn’t quite right that day and was sent for a spell. She came back and jumped out and is working well and I expect her to run a good race.”
“I think the nomination numbers are so high because we lost one meet there at Albury and then Nowra being called off and there were a lot of scratchings at Wellington with the wet track. Even places like Tullibigeal although a picnic meeting, Doug Gorrell, Mick Carriage and Scott Spackman were all taking horses there.”
“Then combined with that the Wagga Town Plate Prelude, the Wagga Guineas Prelude, the Wagga Cup Prelude, that doesn’t really fit the bill for the majority of horses and probably a good forecast to run on a good track.”
Burnet has about 22 in work and there’s a couple of unnamed horses poking about that are a bit younger. “I’m a couple of years into training, but really only the last 12 months almost half of our total winners have come in that period. That puts it into perspective as to how we’ve really grown as a training stable.” “Our last winner was with my brother-in-law Nick Heywood riding Graced at Wagga Wagga on March 1. Since then we’ve had a handful of runners and had three seconds. If they were winners you look like a genius.”
Burnet spoke highly of his brother in law. “He’s riding really well. I think for a jockey that can never really ride below 58kgs which heavily restricts not only his opportunities but quite often he will win on a horse but then it doesn’t get his weight the next start so he can’t ride it, so I think to ride that number of winners with things not in your favour shows what calibre of a jockey he is.”
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