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By Ray Hickson

Trainer Natalie Pearce describes herself as a ‘one man band’ and she’s under no illusions the task in-form mare Sports Page has as she faces up to Gallant Star in Sunday’s $150,000 Evergreen Turf WRA Country Championships (1400m) at Coonamble.

Sports Page winning at Dubbo in June (Pic: Janian McMillan).

But she’s beside herself that, with a handful of horses in work at Dubbo, she has a contender for one of country racing's biggest prizes.

Pearce has held a trainer’s license for about eight years, among other jobs she worked part-time for Clint Lundholm, but she’s been a full-time trainer for less than two of them so it’s all a bit surreal that Sports Page has a shot at qualifying for a $1 million race.

“I can not believe I’ve got one going into it,’’ she said.

“If we run top five I’ll be tickled pink. I’m so excited to have a horse that deserves to be there. It’s the biggest race I’m going to tackle.”

A year ago Pearce took Sports Page to Coonamble’s Country Championships meeting and she won the opening race, a maiden over 1100m, with coming back for the main event not in her thinking.

It started to become a thought bubble when the mare won back-to-back races at Dubbo in June and she told owner and breeder Craig Hardy, who has been a huge supporter of her stable, she’d pencil it in and see what happens.

“We thought about it at the end of last prep when she won two in a row and got pipped her last start,’’ she said.

“Unfortunately Craig hasn’t had a lot of luck getting horses into the Championships, something has always gone wrong but he’s had three in before with other trainers.

“We got her back in for a short prep and she got quite crook so we had to send her back to the paddock.

“Since we brought her back in it has all slotted into place. I said to Craig if the Championships doesn’t work out there was a 1400m Benchmark 58 on the same day so we just basically aimed for one of the two races.”

It was at the Central West’s Country Championships meeting at Orange on February 28 that Sports Page stated her case to Pearce that she’s worthy of facing her biggest test.

The five-year-old swept home down the outside to win a Benchmark 58 under 60kg, making it four wins from 18 starts, and Pearce said there was no other decision to make as she’s in form and eligible for the $150,000 race.

“Orange was a surprise win for me, there were a couple of things against us,’’ she said.

“She hadn’t always performed well second-up, she drew the outside, she was up 5kg in weight and she was going from 1000m to 1300m in one jump.

“But I legged Kenny (Dunbar) up and he was very confident.”

Of course, Gallant Star will start a short priced favourite in the WRA Country Championships and Pearce said he’d earned that right, just as her mare has proven she’s entitled to be one of his rivals.

Sports Page wins at Orange on February 28

And, let’s not forget, while Gallant Star ran second in the Final at Randwick he also finished second at Coonamble.

“She’s a cracker. I’m certainly not saying she’ll go there and beat them but she deserves to be there and has earned her spot,” she said.

All the entires, form and replays for Sunday’s Country Championships meeting at Coonamble