By Mark Brassel
Apprentice Coriah Keatings will continue her association with Toes in the Water in Wednesday’s $80,000 Tursa Employment & Training Grafton Guineas (1600m).
Keatings was aboard the three-year-old when she won a TAB Highway at Rosehill Gardens last start, providing Keatings with her first ever city winner.
The filly had previously scored at Goulburn and can give Keatings better luck than she experienced at Narrandera on Sunday.
Keatings was beaten in photo finishes on $14 chance Craft in Race 6, before edged out by just a head when riding One Aye ($16) in the feature, the Narrandera Cup won by Price of Helena.
Other last start winners engaged in the Grafton Guineas include Change the Date (won Grafton Guineas Prelude), Rapt (won at Scone) and Pluckten (Hawkesbury winner).
Wednesday's feature is the $200,000 Listed-Grafton Disctrict Services Club Ramornie Handicap (1200m) where the equal topweights on 58kg are former Godolphin galloper Bacchanalia (now trained by Richard Litt and to be ridden by Justin Huxtable) and the Tony Gollan-trained King Kapa (Vlad Duric).
Meanwhile, Thursday’s $200,000 Listed-Westlawn Finance Grafton Cup (2350m) weights are headed by Spirit Ridge (60.5kg - to be ridden by Ryan Maloney), Luncies (59.5kg - Michael Rodd), Deny Knowledge (56.5kg - Blake Shinn) and Thalassophile (56.5kg - James Orman).
Clarence River Jockey Club will have buses operating to and from the racecourse on Wednesday and live music on the Westlawn with Adam Hourigan.
And of course, the Ramornie/Grafton Guineas program is followed by Westlawn Finance Grafton Cup Day on Thursday, one of Grafton’s biggest social events of the year.
The big Grafton Racing Carnival finishes up next Sunday with Maclean Bowling Club Maclean Cup Day, a big family day with free kids’ activities and fashions as well as Tangle playing on the Westlawn.
UPCOMING NSW COUNTRY RACE MEETINGS
Monday: Dubbo, Quirindi
Wednesday: Grafton
Thursday: Grafton
Friday: Tamworth, Queanbeyan
Saturday: Inverell, Carinda (non-TAB)
Sunday: Grafton