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By Greg Prichard

Taree trainer Wayne Wilkes liked what he saw from Curracabundi on Taree Gold Cup day and will back her up at Monday’s meeting at Taree in a calculated bid to get the four-year-old mare her first win.

Curracabundi has drawn nicely in barrier five in the Taree Greyhounds Racing Wed 30th November Country Boosted Maiden Plate over 1600m and will be ridden by the very experienced Andrew Gibbons.

Taree-based trainer Wayne Wilkes. Image by Bradley Photographers

Gibbons’s son, Dylan, rode Curracabundi when it was a close second to Echoes Of My Mind in a maiden over 1400m last Sunday.

“Last Sunday I probably wasn’t going to go around in this race with her, but she pulled up so well I thought I’d send her around again,” Wilkes said.

“You’ve just got to look at your horse and make a call and she came through the run beautifully. I’m very happy with her and it’s always the case with the mares that when they’re performing well they tend to hold their form.

“I didn’t have another race set in concrete for her. This race on Monday was sort of there and ripe for the picking with her, so we’re having a crack at it.

“We’re going up another 200 metres, to the 1600. She finished off well over the 1400 the other day. She kept grinding away at them and was just beaten by a better horse on the day. She got out to 1600 in her first campaign and she’ll probably get out to 2000 eventually.

“I’ve had her since the start of her career and third-up over the mile should suit her right down to the ground. It suited her third-up last campaign when she finished third at Taree. That was the best race she’d run before last Sunday.

“I really liked the way she finished off on cup day and you’ve got to try to take advantage of that while the opportunity is there.”

Wilkes said as long as Curracabundi got the sort of run she appreciates, the mare should give a great sight.

“Drawing in the centre of the field like that is fine and it’s not a big field so she should be able to avoid bad luck from there,” he said. “She races best up near the lead. She hasn’t got a big sprint, she just keeps working away, so it’s best that she’s on-pace in the run.”

Wilkes said his good sprinting mare Austeja, the winner of the Taree Kia Lightning Handicap on cup day, had pulled up well and would probably go to a Canterbury Park night meeting on either December 9 or 16.

*Gates open 11am with entry $10. Plenty of room for patrons in the air-conditioned function centre that overlooks the winning post.

View the final fields with full form & race replays for Taree here