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By Geoff Newling

Tony Newing tossed up between Lismore and Coonamble as the port of racing call for his five-year-old mare Solicitation – in the end Coonamble won out.

The daughter of Time Thief, who has won four of her 38 starts with 10 placings, is nominated for a Benchmark 56 Handicap over 1400m at Coonamble and a Benchmark 55 Handicap over 1300m at Lismore.

While it is a little longer in distance at Coonamble the shorter travelling time, around six hours to Coonamble compared to eight up to Lismore, was something of a factor.

“The road is more familiar too,” Tony Newing said today. “Not going to Lismore, I’ll run at Coonamble.”

He’s had the mare for just her last five starts. Her first four she ran second, at Tamworth, Wellington, Coonabarabran and Dubbo, hence the Wyong trainer being more familiar with the roads out west including the Golden west Highway.

Solicitation is a trier: “She is tough, tries her guts out,” Newing said. He is having a good trot at the moment and has “a good team”, one of whom, King Lear ($9.50 into $8.50 on TAB fixed odds) races at Warwick Farm tomorrow.

While he heads west to Coonamble for a six-race TAB meeting Saturday, Lismore Turf Club stages their own six-race TAB meeting, for which it received good nominations this week.

“We finished with 102,” advised LTC chairman Mark Oaten. “That’s pretty good. Going to be a good day. It’s a meeting we call A Day To Remember where we honour a lot of people who have been tied up with the club and worked for the club over many years.

“The track should be good too. It is a Soft 6 now but should be a Good 5 by the time we race.”