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By Greg Prichard

Some of the leading contenders for the $1.3 million The Kosciuszko will take very different paths towards the event and one in particular will be shooting for a unique place in racing history.

The Terry Robinson-trained Art Cadeau will not only be aiming to become the first horse to win both a Country Championships Final and a Kosciuszko – he’ll also be aiming to do it in successive races.

Trainer Terry Robinson (Pic: Bradley Photos).

Art Cadeau hasn’t raced since winning the Country Championships Final over 1400m at Randwick on April 10 and is set to go first-up into The Kosciuszko over 1200m at headquarters on October 16.

"That’s certainly the plan at this stage,” Robinson said.

“He’ll have a couple of jump-outs and maybe an official barrier trial. He’s been back in work maybe six weeks. He’s having a long, slow preparation, which is what I normally give most of my horses.

“He’s more a 1400-metre horse and I believe he’ll go further than that, but he does go very well fresh and has been able to wind up late to win races over 1200 metres and even shorter than that. So it works for The Kosciuszko to go first-up into the race. That would suit him best.”

Punters who buy $5 tickets in the slot draw for The Kosciuszko can get the chance to have a horse race for them. The slot draw will be made on September 9 and the 14 winners each pick a horse and do a deal with its connections for a share of the rich prizemoney.

Art Cadeau is on the second line of TAB fixed odds betting on The Kosciuszko at $6. There is bound to be a battle among slot-holders to pick him up, but some horses that are less certain chances of getting a start must dress to impress and that means racing on a date close to the slot draw.

Parksville, trained by Brett Dodson at Coffs Harbour and $26 in the betting, is set to run in a TAB Class 3 Highway Handicap over 1200m at Randwick on September 4.

“Hopefully he shows his wares there and that really puts a flashing light above him,” Dodson said.

The lightly-raced four-year-old won three successive races over the summer at Coffs Harbour (twice) and Ballina and resumed from a spell of almost six months with a fighting third in a midweek race on the Kensington track at Randwick on August 4.

“We didn’t really want to go to the front, but he was left there into the wind and he fought on really well,” Dodson said.

“He’s got plenty of improvement in him, so we’re looking forward to that. He’s a horse on the way up, he’s got a high cruising speed and he’s tough.”

Trainer Rod Northam

Spiranac, which won a Country Championships qualifier at Tamworth in the autumn and was seventh in the final, will also race at Randwick on September 4 but in a benchmark 78 mares race over 1100m. She is at $15 in Kosciuszko betting.

“I couldn’t be happier with her,” Northam said.

“Every time I bring her back into work she looks like she’s improved. She’s bigger and stronger.

“She was terrific in a recent trial at Muswellbrook, running second under a tight hold. I didn’t want to be giving her a gut-buster or anything. We just let her run to the line.

“It would be nice if she could run well at Randwick and pick up a slot and then we could just plot our path to the race.”

Keith Dryden’s 2019 The Kosciuszko winner Handle The Truth impressed the trainer with his form in a jump-out at Canberra on Wednesday.

“It was a 1000-metre jump-out against five others and he won quite easily,” Dryden said.

“He wasn’t knocked around, but still ran good time. The horse had a good blow after it. He’ll take a lot of improvement from the run.

“I’ll look for a barrier trial to suit him in the next couple of weeks and all being well after that he’ll have a lead-up race in late September in either Sydney or Melbourne.”

Dryden is confident Handle The Truth, which was also an unlucky fourth in last year’s The Kosciuszko, won’t need to race around the time of the slot draw to get a start and will be picked up on the basis of his established race record.

Trainer Keith Dryden (Pic: Steve Hart)

“Plenty of trainers are wrapping their horses,” Dryden said.

“A horse wins a Class 2 race and they say: ‘Oh, this is a Kosciuszko horse’. Well, this is nearly a Group horse and his class is above many of those horses.”

And the popular Coffs Harbour six-year-old Plonka, which has a great Country Championships record of wins in a qualifier and a wild card and a third and a sixth in finals, will head further north in a bid to impress the slot winners.

“We’re planning to race at Doomben on September 11,” Plonka’s trainer Warren Gavenlock said.

“He trialled well at Murwillumbah last week and there looks to be nice race for him on that card. One more trial ahead of that to boost his fitness and he’ll be ready to go.”

Plonka is chasing his first start in a Kosciuszko and is currently a $34 chance.

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