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By Frances O'Shea

After sealing her first ever Wyong Trainers' Premiership, Kristen Buchanan is keen to kick off the new season in winning style.

A season best 37 wins in 2022/23 saw Buchanan share her home track leading trainers title with Kim Waugh, who has taken out the premiership for the previous five years.

The title came down to the second last day when Buchanan saddled up Stenson Wallman in the 1000m 2YO Maiden at Muswellbrook.

Wyong trainer Kristen Buchanan

The promising Invader colt got the job done in impressive style, much to the relief of his trainer.

“To win the Wyong Trainers' Premiership is a huge deal to me,” Buchanan said.

“I’ve had it in my sights for a few years, but Kim is such a good trainer and hard to run down.

“I put in a fairly concentrated effort over the last few weeks, and it paid off. It’s a great result for the stable.”

Buchanan had a nervous wait to see if Stenson Wallman would start at Muswellbrook.

Owners Trilogy Racing had accepted a good offer for the colt to race in Hong Kong but found out late Saturday night the deal had fallen through, allowing Buchanan to race him on Sunday.

“I’ve never been more determined in my life to win a race and it was great to get the job done and in such good fashion.”

Buchanan hopes her trio of runners at Wyong on Thursday can get the new season off to a winning start. She is excited to get two-year-old Hell Of A Show ($2.90 favourite on TAB) to the track after three good trials.

The Hellbent colt debuts in the 1000m Provincial Maiden with Ashley Morgan in the saddle. He impressed winning two trials at Wyong and Rosehill in May and came home nicely in his latest trial at Gosford on July 26.

“He had two good trials and then we gave him a bit of a let-up. He did everything he had to do at Gosford and finished off nicely. I expect him to race well.”

Buchanan believes her Shamus Award four-year-old Blue Guitar ($13) will appreciate the step up in distance in the 2100m Class 1 & Maiden.

“I’ve been looking forward to getting up out to the 2100m and just letting him roll forward. He’s been placed at his last two starts and this race should suit.

“He’s very consistent and we put the blinkers on last start which woke him up a bit. He struggles to change gears but will cover the ground and race well if he can build momentum.”

Three-year-old filly Zara’s Hope ($4) lines up in the 1350m Maiden and Buchanan expects her to race well. She is coming off a fourth at Gosford over 1100m on July 22nd.

“She’s a very clean winded filly and the tempo was a bit too slick for her at Gosford. I think the extra ground on Thursday and having Anna Roper on should really suit her.”

Buchanan is undecided if she will run Gardenzio ($5.50) and Our Gigi Rocks ($13) in the 1200m Class 1. Four-year-old Menari gelding Garadenzio, was a Wyong winner two starts ago before finishing fifth at his latest outing at Gosford on July 22.

Lightly raced four-year-old mare Our Gigi Rocks won on debut at Port Macquarie in March and was uplaced at her next start before spelling: “I’ll weigh the field up before deciding if either will start,” Buchanan said.

The first of eight races gets underway at 12.25pm.

SELECTIONS
Race 1-12.25pm: GOOD LUCK ROBIN TAYLOR IN YOUR NEW GOLF CLUB GM ROLE 3YO MAIDEN: 1GOLD BULLION, 2 Fire Star, 3 Rockabilly Rebel, 4 Solar System.
Race 2 – 1.05pm: BOOK YOUR NEXT FUNCTION AT WYONG RACE CLUB CLASS 1 & MAIDEN: 1 DEEP VOYAGE, 2 Blue Guitar, 3 Interventionist, 4 The Professor.
Race 3 – 1.45pm: LADIES DAY – AUGUST 17 MAIDEN (1350m): ! ZARROSE, 2 Zara’s Hope, 3 Sense Of Humour, 4 Rule Of Salex.
Race 4 – 2.20pm: DE BORTOLI WINES PROVINCIAL MAIDEN (1000m): 1 STAR MAGIC, 2 Hongkong Harmony, 3 Hell Of A Show, 4 Coco Dreaming.
Race 5 – 2.55pm: TAB.COM.AU CLASS 1 (1200m): 1 BOSTON ROCKS, 2 Serene Nic, 3 Gardenzio, 4 Astral Thoughts.
Race 6 – 3.35pm: CARLTON WYONG GOLD CUP FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 1 BM64 (1600m): 1 ALLHALLOWIDE, 2 Martini Crusader, 3 Nitride, 4 Reach Beyond.
Race 7 – 4.10pm: TO THE MOON AND BACK IN MEMORY OF LYN GALE MIDWAY BM64 (1000m): 1 VEGAS RAIDER, 2 Mr Bingo, 3 Bring Glory, 4 Chipper.
Race 8 – 4.50pm; WYONG’S NEXT RACE DAY SUNDAY AUGUST 27 CONDITION BM68 (1350m): ! Princess Amira, 2 Danza In The Dark, 3 Chain Of Gold, 4 Appetite For Risk.

View the final fields with full form & race replays for Wyong here