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By Ray Hickson

Darren Graham would describe himself as a hobby trainer so to have a horse like Bean Foggy among his small team is significant.

The Murwillumbah trainer only has a handful of horses in work but his stable star has already won a Northern Rivers Country Championships in 2023 among his five wins and will be out to push his earnings beyond $250,000 at Grafton on Sunday.

Bean Foggy was a bargain buy for Graham and he’ll contest the $35,000 Maclean Bowling Club Maclean Cup (1400m) looking to go one better than last year and to bounce back from a rare failure in Brisbane earlier this month.

“He’s been unreal, you wish every horse was like him,’’ Graham, said.

Trainer Darren Graham and Bean Foggy (Pic: Trackside)

“You pay $10,000 for them and they win $200,000, and he’s a very sound horse.

“I would like to think he’s going better than last year and he’d be a very good chance in it.”

Graham is forgiving of the gelding’s last start unplaced performance at Eagle Farm, he started a $6.50 chance in a Class 6 but had no favours in the run and just didn’t perform in testing conditions.

The heavy ground also worked against him when he was a beaten favourite on his home track a couple of weeks earlier so Graham says a better surface at Grafton will be welcome.

“He doesn’t like the heavy tracks, he doesn’t mind the give in it but when it’s heavy he doesn’t get through it,’’ he said.

“He just couldn’t get in either. If I’d have known it was going to be that heavy I wouldn’t have gone but it was a soft 7 when I left home and when I got there it was heavy.”

His Country Championships win last year was a highlight for Graham and the trainer said it’s been fortunate that Bean Foggy has been able to progress into near open company since then.

Although he’d love to think the gelding could be a Kosciuszko prospect he feels 1200m would be short of his best and it’d be better to look to qualify him for the Big Dance via his home town Cup in about a month’s time.

A good performance in the Maclean Cup, where Bean Foggy opened $5 with TAB on Saturday, would ensure he heads on that path again having finished third behind Wategos in the race a year ago.

“When they win a race like (a Country Championships) they jump in the ratings quickly and if they don’t take that next step they’re in a lot of pain to get down in the ratings,’’ he said.

“But if you can be consistent after that it keeps everybody happy.

“He’s got a bit of weight to carry but he’ll run well. He’ll be back midfield somewhere and having the last crack at them.

“You can’t ride him on the speed, he likes to get his own way a bit behind them and be flushed out late.

“If bad luck comes into the equation you’re in trouble but if there’s no bad luck he’ll be right there.”

All the fields, form and replays for Sunday’s Grafton meeting