The race to next month’s Victorian Country Cups Series Final at Caulfield will heat up again with tomorrow’s (Saturday, 5 October) feature meetings at Murtoa and Gunbower.
The $30,000 Moama Bowling Club Gunbower Gold Cup (1800m) is set to attract more than 2000 people to the tiny town on the banks of the Murray River to watch the first running of the much-loved race since 2019.
The 2023 bet365 Ararat Gold Cup (2200m) winner Grand Pierro (Jason Warren) is one to watch as he aims to qualify again for the $500,000 final on Schweppes Caulfield Thousand Day (Saturday, 16 November), having placed fourth last year.
The five-year-old gelding will be carrying the lofty weight of 63.5kg due to his career record which includes placings in this year’s Hobart and Launceston Cups.
Local Echuca trainers Gwenda Johnstone and Rhys Archard both have horses engaged in the race with Cadazio and Dismount respectively out to upstage the visitors.
Archard will be hoping to join his late father Daryl Archard on the honour roll after he trained family favourite Leveraction to win the 2015 Gunbower Gold Cup.
First emergency Jayzeal (Christopher Davis) and Our Destrier (Brett Campbell) are both coming off the back of country cup wins in New South Wales.
Jayzeal was victorious in the Jerilderie Cup (1400m) last Saturday, whilst Our Destrier took out the Pooncarie Cup (1550m) the weekend before.
In Murtoa, the Victorian Country Cups Series leaderboard looks set for a shake up with first-placed Station One (Liam Howley) and seventh-placed Picaroon (Tom Dabernig) amongst the starting line-up of 11 for the $50,000 Ecycle Solutions Murtoa Cup (2050m).
Station One has had a brilliant start to the series winning the 2023 William Thomson Dunkeld Cup (1800m) and 2023 bet365 Traralgon Cup (1900m), before returning to form with a fighting second in the last week’s bet365 Coleraine Cup (1800m).
Picaroon is only four points behind on 10 after winning the 2024 Foodworks Casterton Cup (2000m) and bet365 Apsley Cup (2000m) in May and June respectively.
The Matt Cumani-trained Tycoon Bec (Matt Cumani) will also be vying to add some more points to her tally after finishing third in the Winsec Savings & Loans Wangaratta Cup (2000m) earlier this year.
Another horse to watch at Murtoa is last year’s Penfolds Victoria Derby (2500m) placegetter Sunsets. The four-year-old will be aiming to continue the good form of the Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young stable after they won the bet365 Benalla Gold Cup last weekend with Suizuro.
The Ecycle Solutions Murtoa Cup (Race 6) will be run at 4:05pm tomorrow with the Moama Bowling Club Gunbower Gold Cup (Race 8) to follow at 4:44pm, with both races to be broadcast live on Racing.com.
With 15 races still to come in the Series, the opportunity remains for a number of horses to work their way into the final field of 16 starters for next month’s lucrative final at Caulfield.
The winners of each country cup collect five points in the series, with two points awarded to the runner-up and third place receiving one point.
To view the current Victorian Country Cups Series leaderboard, please click here.
Following the Gunbower and Murtoa Cups, the next qualifying races will be the bet365 Hamilton Cup (2200m) and Nutrien Ag Solutions Manangatang Cup (2000m) on Saturday week, 12 October.