Latest News

By Ray Hickson

Trainer Cody Morgan can’t remember a stronger edition of the Evergreen Turf Hunter & North West Country Championships (1400m) than what’s shaping at his home track on Sunday.

Cody Morgan (Pic: Bradley Photos)

And for that reason he’s more than happy to be the underdog as his two home track specialists Tornado Express and Smart Shot vie for one of two spots in next month’s $1 million Final.

Morgan has won the $150,000 feature three times, with Unbiased (2019), Ligulate (2020), and Anethole in 2022, but said there’s no doubt this year’s edition is going to be much harder to win.

“I can’t remember this race being this strong,’’ Morgan said.

“In years gone by I’ve had sleepless nights going into the race because I’ve had the dominant horse and you’re expected to win.

“I haven’t overthought it this year because I look at the strength of the race. A horse like Lisztomania is probably going to be 10/1 and he’s won a Highway with 60kg last start.

“I’ve got our two as well as they can be but they probably have to run a career peak to be in the finish, whereas horses like Unbiased and Ligulate haven’t had to run a peak they’ve just had to hold their form.”

There’s a small distance query over Tornado Express running a strong 1400m but Morgan said the mare has had the right build up to tackle the race second-up with blinkers going on.

The four-year-old, unbeaten in three starts at Tamworth, sat handy and was outsprinted early in the straight before rallying late to run fourth in the Preview at Scone last month.

“We rook the blinkers off her at Scone but they’ll go back on,’’ he said.

“She’s in good order, she probably hasn’t beaten anything that would be a chance in this sort of race but when she has won she’s been dominant.

“She was strong through the line at Scone over 1200m which gives me good confidence she’ll run 1400m.

“She’s got 55.5kg on her home track, if she doesn’t run 1400m here she’s probably never going to.”

Mitchell Bell rides Tornado Express while Clayton Gallagher continues his association from the trials with Smart Shot, who will be first-up since running third in the Coonabarabran Cup back in October.

Morgan has borrowed from the blueprint that saw Russley Crown win the Hunter & North West Country Championships last year with Smart Shot and he said any rain around over the weekend would only help the gelding’s cause.

“Last year’s winner trialled over 1200m, 11 days before and we’ve done something similar,’’ he said.

“He’s won over the track and distance on a heavy 10 and I think 56kg is the right sort of weight to have in this sort of race, so he ticks that box.

“He hasn’t beaten the right opposition to be short in the market in a race like this but he’s going in as well as he possibly can and has a lot of things in his favour. His best runs by far have been on his home track.”

Morgan has more than a quarter of the 22 horses he has in work nominated for the Tamworth meeting as he’s looked to increase the strength of his stable rather than relying on larger numbers.

That’s reflected in the stats with Morgan producing 261 runners last season for 49 winners (18.8 per cent), this season he’s had just 90 runners so far for 23 wins (25.6 per cent).

Tornado Express wins at Tamworth on December 23

“Even though we haven’t got the same amount of numbers we’ve been able to churn out plenty of winners,’’ he said.

“It’s got a lot stronger with city stables in the Hunter Valley and the provincial horses coming up.

“You need a pretty handy horse to be able to continue to get winners so I feel by having a smaller team and turning them over frequently is the best way to do that.”

All the entries, form and replays for Sunday's Country Championships meeting at Tamworth