By Ray Hickson
Two milestones await trainer Angela Davies if her stable star Our Kobison can bounce back to his best in Wednesday’s Listed $200,000 Kia Canterbury Sprint (1200m).
A little like a cricketer in the nervous 90s, the popular Gosford trainer has been stranded on 199 career wins since Alice Mae won back on December 7 though she’s only had four runners since.
So a maiden stakes win with Our Kobison would make it that extra bit special.
Davies says the five-year-old let her down with his second-up fourth behind Iowna Merc at Randwick on December 21 but feels there may have been some reason to forgive.
He was due to run in the Razor Sharp second-up on The Ingham day but a temperature forced Davies to go to Plan B.
“I was a little bit disappointed with him, I thought he would have let down a little bit better,’’ she said.
“He wasn’t awful but I expected him to go to town and just win the other day.
“I had him ready for the 1200m and we had a bit of a hiccup, we bought him back to the 1100m and maybe he was looking for a bit more.
“Hopefully he can make amends for last start.”
Our Kobison, $4 with TAB on Tuesday, set a track record for 1200m at Rosehill back in February and underlined his talent as he chased Joliestar home in the Group 3 Show County in August.
After tackling The Shorts, where he was beaten three lengths by I Am Me, Davies freshened Our Kobison and he earned a pass mark for his second behind Eagle Nest on a soft 7 track in the Starlight Stakes.
Davies, who only has about 10 horses in work at Gosford, said on paper there should be no excuses for the gelding at Canterbury and she hopes Jason Collett can make use of a favourable barrier to have him in a striking position.
“Someone is going to lead, it won’t be us, and we’ll be taking a sit second or third I’d imagine and I’d reckon the track will suit him,’’ she said.
“In all honesty I think we’ve found the right stakes race. They’re an even bunch and there’s a fair bit of exposed form.
“His work has been great so I can’t fault the horse. He’d have to go awfully close or win otherwise he’d have to go for a freshen.”
While training horses at Gosford hasn’t been easy in recent months as the track has undergone major renovations, Davies is excited about the new surface which will feature a new camber on the home turn and it's already receiving rave reviews.
At this stage racing is scheduled to resume at Gosford on February 6.
“We’ve been able to get on the course proper at Gosford which has been a big help,’’ she said.
Our Kobison runs fourth at Randwick on December 21
“The camber is terrific, horses that were struggling to get around the turn are just flying around. It’ll be interesting to see when they race.
“I think they’ve done a pretty good job all in all.”
All the fields, form and replays for Wednesday’s Canterbury meeting