Scone preview: Northam ready to cash in with promising pair One Man Show and Shropshire Lad

Scone trainer Rodney Northam can make an instant return with two bargain buys who are red-hot favourites at Scone on Wednesday.

Trainer Rodney Northam saddles up two brilliant prospects at Scone on Tuesday. Picture: Jenny Evans

Rodney Northam saddles up odds-on favourites in consecutive races at Scone on Wednesday, both of whom are in the running for racing’s unofficial “bargain of the year” award.

The pair, One Man Show and Shropshire Lad, are in line to collect $30,000 between them if successful on Tuesday, setting up an instant (near) $10,000 profit off Northam’s original outlay.

Shropshire Lad accounts for $15,000 of the $20,500 it took the renowned ‘eagle-eyed judge’ Northam to secure both horses.

One Man Show’s $5,500 price tag looks a steal given the gelding is the talk of the Horse Capital after two phenomenally impressive trial wins in the lead-up to today’s debut where he has been backed from $2 into $1.55.

“He is a really nice horse,’’ Northam told The Daily Telegraph.

“He is still pretty green and whatever he does he will improve off but he has definitely got some ability.

“There’s been a little of time between his trial and this run but I am confident he is fit enough for the 1300m so I expect him to race really well.

“He should be able to run well with what he has shown me so far.’’

One Man Show was offered to the world, online, but it was Northam who had the unfair advantage given the horse’s location at the nearby Goodwood Farm – Kerrie Tibbey’s nursery best known as the breeders of Private Eye and Dance Hero before that.

“I really like buying off Goodwood Farm, Kerry’s a really good breeder,’’ Northam said.

“I liked the look of his picture and video so I snuck up and had a look at him and thought I’d just take the punt and buy him.

“He’s by an unfashionable stallion who hasn’t really been setting the world on fire but he was just such a nice type I thought I would give him a crack.’’

That “unfashionable sire” to whom Northam referred is the former very fashionable racehorse, Showtime.

The son of Snitzel is best remembered for his win in the 2018 Group 2 MRC PB Lawrence (1400m) beating the likes of Hartnell, Humidor, Grunt, Black Heart Bart, Harlem and Boom Time.

Coincidentally, both the Caulfield Cup winner Boom Time and Showtime himself flew out of the same plane on August 20 this year, bound for Indonesia to continue their respective stud careers.

Punters are noted for being overly forgiving of beaten favourites but have lost no love for Sharopshire Lad ($1.85) who should have bolted in on debut at Newcastle.

“I don’t know about bolted in but he would have given the winner a good race so he gets his chance to atone on Tuesday,’’ Northam said.

“I really quite like him. He is a nice horse.

“I think he could probably, hopefully, get beyond country racing, maybe up to a Highway and beyond there.

“He is probably a bit more tractable than One Man Show, he is a bit more seasoned, so I expect him to be hard to beat.

“He was probably looking for 1000m the other day, so 1100m should be right up his alley and he might just get a little bit further later on.’’

Both One Man Show and Shropshire Lad will be ridden on Tuesday by Reece Jones whose shared tally of winners with Northam is 77, still well behind the 203 the legendary Robert Thompson booted home for the Scone conditioner.

That said, Jones has two milestones that he should reach – and pass – in quick time.

He’s one short of 50 winners at Scone and five shy of 400 career wins, one of which was this year’s Group 1 ATC Metropolitan Handicap.

Late starter can be worth wait

They say patience is its own reward but owner/breeder and equine vet Dr Kevin Doyle deserves every cent of the $15,000 first prize that his beloved Closetothinkitover is racing for at Scone on Tuesday – finally.

To say the mare will be making her “long-awaited” debut in the Lion Country Boosted Maiden Handicap (1300m) would be the understatement of the century given she is nine years old.

“Apparently she has been in work quite a few times before and hadn’t really got far because she goes off her tucker and stops eating,’’ Hawkesbury Guineas-winning trainer Scott Singleton said.

“But we’ve had no issues with that here. She’s been on her tucker good and she looks magnificent.

“You’d think she was a two-year-old, riding her.

“It’s a bit of a new one for me, a horse that old, but Kevin’s a vet and he said there are not really any signs to back up that they shouldn’t be able to do it.

“So hopefully she can win a race for him and it would be good for her pedigree.”

Trainer Scott Singleton will give nine-year-old Closetothinkitover her debut. Picture: Bradley Photos

It’s too late for Closetothinkitover to win an Oaks but she was bred that way being by High Chaparral out of a half-sister to 2001 AJC Derby winner Universal Prince and a close relative of the 1994 VRC Derby winner Blevic.

While Singleton is understandably circumspect about what Closetothinkitover can deliver on debut, he is suitably bullish about the prospects of the 6/4 favourite Sir Remlap in the last race of the day.

The son of Rubick lost no admirers in defeat in what could turn out to be a very deep Highway at his last start, least of all Singleton himself.

“I was really happy with it, actually,’’ he said.

“He got a bit further back than we thought and the wheels were spinning from a long way out.

“He never really travelled in the ground so it was a good effort to still be able to finish off a bit.’’

Singleton will break out the familiar Dwyer family colours to hand to star apprentice Mitch Stapleford.

The jockey will have the reins on racy three-year-old debutant Kermet ($17) in the Muswellbrook Ford Maiden Plate (1100m).

“He is a horse that has shown us enough where he is not going to take a long time to break his maiden,’’ Singleton said.

“He runs into a strong enough maiden with Rod Northam’s horse (Shropshire Lad) there but he’s definitely competitive.”

Originally published as Scone preview: Northam ready to cash in with promising pair One Man Show and Shropshire Lad