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By Ray Hickson

Trainer David McColm says he’s always confident going to the races when things have gone according to plan and when it comes to promising mare Fairway Choice’s Country Championships bid everything in the script has played out to date.

Trainer David McColm (Pic: Trackside)

So he has every reason to think the four-year-old can make her presence felt in Saturday’s $150,000 Newhaven Park NRRA Country Championships (1400m) at Grafton.

But she’s only getting one chance to qualify for the $1 million Final – there’ll be no wild card – because McColm sees her future being over more ground.

“Everything we’ve planned is going according to plan,’’ he said.

“If she did qualify, with that five week gap we’ll probably give her a nice easy trial in between but she’ll go to Randwick in really good order.

“It’s one shot. I really like her but I don’t want to travel her all the way to Scone and try to qualify her, bring her all the way home and then head back to Sydney again.

“That’s going to be too taxing on her and it’s something I’m probably not going to do.

“But I haven’t had a setback, everything has fallen into place, and when that happens I get really confident.”

Murwillumbah based McColm won the Northern Rivers Championships two years ago with Far Too Easy, who has trained on to be one of the top country performers in the state.

He finished fourth in the Final in 2022 and has placed in the past two editions of The Kosciuszko.

McColm said there’s few similarities between him and Fairway Choice but the experience with Far Too Easy has him more at ease with the task ahead.

“I’m not saying she’s in the Far Too Easy category but she does go very nicely,’’ he said.

“He was a little more dynamic than her, she’s going to get over a bit of ground later on. She gives what she’s got and she loves to please, I’m actually really stoked with her.

“Going into my first Country Championships with Far Too Easy was a learning curve and it was a bit daunting. We were flooded, and there was a lot of things going on at that time.

“Once you’ve been there it becomes a bit addictive I suppose so I’m looking forward to having another crack.

“I’ve been saying for about six weeks that this mare is the horse. In my mind, I think I’ve got the perfect horse.”

Fairway Choice has raced only four times and it was just over a week ago when the mare confirmed herself as a contender for the Country Championships when she won first-up at Eagle Farm.

It was back in September when McColm hatched his plan to get her into the Country Championships and, given a lot of the strength of the region coming from the Matthew Dunn stable, it all hinged on her winning first-up at an unsuitable distance.

“She’s not really a 1200m horse, she’s going to be a stayer for sure, but just natural ability got her there,’’ he said.

“We had to time this to perfection to get her in, if she hadn’t have won last week her benchmark probably wouldn’t have got her there.

“I do believe the 1400m is right up her alley. Matt’s got a couple there that are going to be very hard to beat but she is going to acquit herself very well.”

Fairway Choice wins at Eagle Farm on February 7

The fact jockey Kyle Wilson-Taylor gave up riding in Brisbane on Saturday to partner Fairway Choice is another source of confidence for McColm and he just hopes there’s a genuine tempo.

“It will be tricky but Matt has a couple that will go forward, there’s also another couple in the race that will go forward, so I am anticipating speed on,’’ he said.

“If that’s the case she can sit and bide her time. Lismore has a long straight so it will give her time to wind up and I think she will be finishing great.”

Meanwhile, Far Too Easy had three weeks off after he ran fourth on Magic Millions Day at the Gold Coast and McColm is preparing him for a Brisbane winter carnival campaign.

All the fields, form and replays for Saturday's Country Championships meeting at Grafton