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By Ray Hickson

There are two horses that apprentice Ashleigh Stanley holds close to her heart and at Coonabarabran on Friday she hopes to ride one to Cup victory and cheer her younger brother on to complete a family treble on the other.

Ashleigh Stanley and her father, trainer Peter Stanley (Pic: Janian McMillan)

They are Not Negotiating, a seven-year-old mare who has already given the 23-year-old some memorable moments, and the other is eight-year-old mare The Long Run.

The former is out to earn Big Dance eligibility again in the $75,000 Coonabarabran Bowling Club Coonabarabran Cup (1600m) while the latter takes her place in the $35,000 Imperial Hotel Cup Day Sprint (1100m).

Both are trained by her father Peter Stanley so it’s no surprise she’s closely associated with them but not only does Ashleigh adore them, the duo have been success stories for the stable.

“They both have a special spot, I just seem to click with the pair of them,’’ she said.

“I’ve won six on Not Negotiating and we just seem to get each other I think.

“She was meant to go to the picnics but after the first trial dad gave her he said she was going too well to go to the picnics.

“I ran second on her at Orange over 1000m at her first run for us and it turned out that she’s gone through the grades quicker than what we thought.

“I think she does have a lot of ability, she’s beaten some nice horses.

“She gave me my first race ride at Randwick, which was a privilege, and the chance to ride in a Listed race as well so she has taken me a fair few places that little horse.”

The Not Negotiating story has been well documented, she was purchased for $600 a little over two years ago and has so far earned around $150,000 for her owners.

Stanley will ride the mare for the 30th time in the Coonabarabran Cup, she’s only missed out on the ride once, at Narromine in November 2020, due to a broken ankle with her nephew Dylan Stanley taking the reins that day.

A Mudgee Cup win last December qualified her for the inaugural $2 million Big Dance, she ultimately contested the $500,000 Little Dance due to her drop in ratings and finished in a respectable midfield spot.

But she showed she was back in form with a strong win over 1400m, carrying 59.5kg, at Warren last Friday and, with a nice weight drop at Coonabarabran, Stanley hopes she has the chance to improve on her seventh placing in the race last year.

“She’s always a horse that tries, she’s been racing against stronger company lately because her benchmark is a bit high,’’ she said.

“Now we could get her in a race out here with a bit less weight we thought ‘here’s her chance’.

“It was a really good win at Warren. It was a nice quality field but she took her time to get her usual race pattern and just ran over the top of them.

“She’s backed up before and always performed so we’re not worried about that. She’s a horse that needs to roll about the 600-700m and sometimes it doesn’t pan out our way to get the runs when she needs them.”

Not Negotiating wins at Warren on December 16

Meanwhile, The Long Run was scratched from the Coonabarabran Cup to come back in trip after being beaten two lengths by Not Negotiating at Warren.

Ashleigh has partnered that mare in 52 of her 58 starts, and nine of her 10 wins, and if Will Stanley can guide her to victory in the sprint all three of the Stanley family jockeys – Ashleigh, Will and Dylan - will have won a race on her.

“Dad chose to put Will on to give him a crack at winning on her too,’’ she said.

“She’s always a chance when she goes around, she’s honest as the day is long.”

All the fields, form and replays for Friday's Coonabarabran meeting