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By Ray Hickson

Trainer Lyle Chandler reckons Banju is something of a poster boy for country racing.

Trainer Lyle Chandler (Pic: Steve Hart)

The expat South African, based in Scone, has taken the lightly raced five-year-old through each rung of country racing so far and has arrived at the $150,000 Newhaven Park Hunter & North West Country Championships (1400m) at Tamworth.

“He’s quite a good advert for country racing which was something I wanted to target myself,’’ Chandler said.

“He won a country only maiden which was $19,700 to the winner, he won a Benchmark 58 at Bathurst, he’s picked up two Highways.

“I bought him in at the end of last year with the aim of targeting some Highways and I actually wanted to give him a bit of time off but I thought I’d give it a go for the Championships.”

Banju has carved himself a reputation for being a tough competitor in his Highway wins – he sat three wide on the pace to win over 1400m at Kensington on New Year’s Day then led all the way for a five length win over 1500m at Rosehill two weeks later.

He wasn’t always like that, though, and Chandler has had to be patient while waiting for the gelding to work it all out.

And he’s something of a special horse, he was the first horse given to the 39-year-old when he started out on his own as a trainer a couple of years ago.

“He was a three-year-old that had come back from the breakers, he had a few preps in and out,’’ he said.

“I raced him once and brought him back, raced him five times and sent him out again.

“He was always going to be my first winner but he kept me waiting for a bit. I wanted to have him seasoned and this prep when he came in he didn’t have any glitches.

“This was always going to be the prep that was better than the rest.

"All those previous preparations he just had small things go wrong that was showing he wasn’t coping with the pressure of training.”

With 10 horses already qualified for the $500,000 Newhaven Park Country Championships Final on April 2, Banju is one of three horses nominated for Tamworth that sit in the top eight in TAB all-in betting so there's some expectation around him.

He’s at $18 and while he hasn’t raced for seven weeks Chandler said the residual fitness from those tough Highway wins have him in good stead and warned no emphasis should be placed on his finishing position in a recent trial.

“He’s very lazy by nature. Thankfully I’ve had the horse for a few preps so I know him quite well,’’ he said.

“I’ve never trialled him hard and it seems to work with him so we stuck to our pattern.

“I was mindful he had two very tough runs in the Highways, getting caught wide, so I wanted to give him an easier time but he’s one of the horses going in with quite a bit of fitness behind him.”

Banju wins a Highway at Rosehill on January 15

Banju’s final gallop was staged on the Scone course proper on Wednesday morning and regular jockey Jean Van Overmeire will make the trip to Tamworth to take the ride.

It’s often said you need better than a Highway horse to win a Country Championships and, with four wins from 15 starts, Banju is now out of Highway grade – Chandler suspects he has the talent to make it to the Final.

“I think he will be competitive and he’s one of the hoses in the field that is looking for 1400m to a mile,’’ he said.

“He is a nice horse and regardless of how far we progress in the Championships I think next prep there will be more wins in store for him.”

All the entries, form and replays for Sunday’s Country Championships meeting at Tamworth