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By Mark Brassel

Muswellbrook will stage two major ‘kindergarten’ races this Friday and both events have a history of showcasing some precocious talent.

The $25,000 Miss Finland for fillies and the $25,000 Star Kingdom for colts and geldings aged two over 1000m have been highly successful in attracting some top-shelf young gallopers.

“Since the inception of the Miss Finland and the Star Kingdom, both races have unearthed some serious racehorses,” said Muswellbrook Race Club’s GM, Duane Dowell.

Muswellbrook's unique Lone Pine Charge perpetual trophy - an 18-pounder artillery round

“Some of the previous winners have become black-type level horses including Voodoo Lad who won the Star Kingdom in 2014.

“Voodoo Lad went on to win seven Stakes races and nearly $2 million in prizemoney.

“Last year’s winner of the Miss Finland was Marboosha – she won a Stakes race at Flemington in March and was runner-up in the PJ Bell Stakes during The Championships at Royal Randwick earlier this month.”

Already this year’s entries appear top-notch with many unraced gallopers in both races having trialled impressively.

Among Miss Finland nominations are Boketto (trained by Kris Lees), Diamond Falls (John Sargent), Holy Tycoon (Todd Howlett), Innocent Party (Brett Cavanough) and Verzenay (Annabel Neasham).

And youngsters in the Star Kingdom include Charminton (Annabel Neasham), Sneaky Truths (Kris Lees), The Sherpa (Brett Cavanough) and Talons.

The latter, trained by Todd Howlett, is by Real Impact from Push and Shove and is a half-brother to Powertrain who won three races in succession before being exported.

The two other feature races at Muswellbrook are the $25,000 Lone Pine Charge (1000m) and $22,000 Jerry’s Plains Cup (1500m).

“The winner of the Lone Pine Charge will be presented with a unique perpetual trophy of an 18-pounder artillery round,” said Mr Dowell.

“The Jerry’s Plains Cup has been missing from the race club’s racing calendar for several years but has been reintroduced to coincide with Jerry’s Plains Bicentenary celebrations next year.

“And our Silks Function Room is now available for lunch package options, but bookings are essential as we are still under strict COVID-19 restrictions that need to be observed.

“The bar will be operating along with the Caffe Mobilita and there will be a TAB and bookmakers on course.”

Clarence River Jockey Club also races on Friday with their highlight on the eight-race TAB program, the $22,000 Bushgrove Cup (1175m).

Upcoming NSW country race meetings
Monday: Albury, Port Macquarie
Tuesday: Goulburn, Narromine
Friday: Grafton, Muswellbrook
Saturday: Kempsey, Boorowa (non-TAB), Binnaway (non-TAB)
Sunday: Sapphire Coast, Bathurst