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By Ray Hickson

Trainer Paul Messara left Tamworth thinking he has a winning chance in next month’s $1 million Evergreen Turf Country Championships Final after Intervarsity defied a wide run to win her way to Randwick.

The mare wasn’t the horse most thought Messara, and co-trainer Leah Gavranich, would qualify as odds-on favourite Know Thyself had to settle for fourth and now needs to win the Wild Card to progress.

Messara said Intervarsity, while not the most favoured of the stable’s trio in the $150,000 Evergreen Turf Hunter & North West Country Championships (1400m), is well above average in her own right.

“It was a great run, it’s been a bit of a tricky track and making up ground has been hard so she was right on the speed where she needed to be,’’ Messara said.

Donovan Dillon returns on Intervarsity at Tamworth. (Pic: Bradley Photos).

“She got posted a bit wide early and I thought he might have pushed on to the lead but she settled well.

“The main thing I told him was to keep it smooth and get her into a rhythm. It’s great to have her there and she will take some beating in the Final.”

It’s likely Intervarsity, who firmed into $6 with TAB for the Final, will likely go to Randwick on April 5 without another run.

Despite the wide run, jockey Donovan Dillon was always confident he had the race in his control when he strode up to challenge on the home turn.

“It mapped out like I studied it, I didn’t see all that much speed in it but enough to keep us in our momentum going forward all the time,’’ Dillon said.

“At the 600m I did feel they where slacking off underneath me and I elected for her to slide up nicely. She took an awkward stride but once she balanced up she just powered away.”

While Intervarsity gave Messara a second win in the race in the past three years, following Akasawa in 2023, Inverell trainer Todd Payne is rapt to be heading into his first Final with runner-up Lisztomania.

After jumping from the outside barrier, jockey Luke Rolls took him back and when the pace eased he put the gelding into the race and he got within a length of the winner. Hellcibell finished third.

“He hasn’t been out of the top three at Randwick, so let’s go,’’ Payne said.

“Luke gave him a peach, as the speed slackened off he trucked up into it a bit sooner than he wanted to.

“At the top of the straight I thought it would take a good one to beat him but he’s run well.”

All the results and replays from Sunday’s Country Championships meeting at Tamworth