Taree, Moree previews: Trainer Robert Agnew’s star galloper to show ‘em how it’s done

Country Championships-bound galloper Show ‘Em Howl will start short odds when he heads to Taree on Tuesday after two barnstorming runs in Sydney.

The Robert Agnew-trained Show 'Em Howl looks well placed at Taree on Tuesday. Picture: Bradley Photos

Trainer Robert Agnew will gladly take his share of the $13,950 winner’s purse on offer at Taree on Tuesday but it’s the points – not the cash – he wants most.

Agnew, a rising star trainer, has his rising star racehorse Show ‘Em Howl back in action on the Mid-North Coast on Tuesday after back-to-back barnstorming runs at Royal Randwick and Rosehill respectively.

It comes as no surprise then that Show ‘Em Howl looks destined to start well into the red when he steps out in the MVRC Winning Post Function Centre Class 3 Handicap (1262m).

“He is definitely on a Country Championship path that’s for sure,’’ Agnew said.

“And it looks like a walk in the park to get his (benchmark) points up to be eligible.

“He wins on Tuesday, he goes from a 60 to 64 or 65 and then that would nearly get him in (to the qualifier).

“I’ll run him there (at Taree) and then we go to Sydney two-and-a-half weeks later for a 1400m and then he is in the paddock or we give him one more kill and then he is in the paddock.”

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Show ‘Em Howl has finished fourth and fifth in his two Sydney runs, both ending in his now-trademark whirlwind finishing burst.

Rival trainers hoping for a level-playing field at Taree on Tuesday will be disheartened to learn of Show ‘Em Howl’s current state of health and wellbeing.

“He’s improved,’’ Agnew declared. “I’m expecting him to be very dominant on Tuesday to be honest.”

Show 'Em Howl shows them how in the last at @port_races! 👏@AnnaRoper_pic.twitter.com/FEZPHdRbpS

— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) January 19, 2025

Show ‘Em Howl is not only a four-legged advertisement for Agnew’s training prowess, his meagre purchase price of $5,000 at the far away Inglis Gold Yearling Sale in Melbourne in 2023 highlights Agnew’s eye for a bargain.

Show ‘Em Howl is a son of Showtime who left Australia on a plane for Indonesia in August last year to continue his stud duties.

Agnew’s three-year-old has several Group 1 relatives on his page including Racing To Win as well as The Everest winner Classique Legend.

Where to next for Show 'Em Howl? The Country Championships are on the radar!

Hear from trainer Robert Agnew after the win at @port_races this afternoon... pic.twitter.com/bXJzPh3lJz

— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) January 19, 2025

Agnew’s other runner at Taree on Tuesday is Prince Rupert who turned in a career-best performance last start when third at Coffs Harbour.

“He is my most expensive horse and he’s been very disappointing,’’ Agnew said.

“But we changed a few things, gave him a good spell and brought him back and fingers are crossed that he can do what he did first-up and he’ll be on the right track to win races for us.

“He finds himself in a race that is very achievable for him to put himself in the first four again.

“I can’t fault him. His work is good and he looks great.”

Trainer Robert Agnew (right).

Prince Rupert, a $50,000 Magic Millions Yearling graduate of the 2023 sale, is a son of Bjorn Baker’s Winning Rupert who won the first five of his ultimately final six lifetime starts including the Group 2 BRC Champagne Classic, Group 3 Vo Rogue Plate and the Listed Gold Edition Stakes, all in Brisbane from May to December in 2016.

Meanwhile there was good news on the Agnew front regarding his talented three-year-old Pony Soprano who came down in a drama-charged Highway at Rosehill on Saturday.

“He had a couple of little cuts on his legs but nothing major and a head knock,” Agnew reported.

“The initial plan was to spell him straight away but I got him home and it is not as bad as I first thought.”

■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Prosser’s Wild girl ready to rumble

Trainer Colt Prosser.

Highway-winning trainer Colt Prosser is hoping the ‘real’ She’s A Wild One will reveal herself when she joins a caravan of four heading from Wauchope to Moree on Tuesday.

The daughter of 2019 Doncaster Handicap winner Brutal, She’s A Wild One has so far been more true to her name than the job of being a racehorse as Prosser explained.

“She has always shown me so much ability, I thought she was my best three-year-old by a country mile but she just does everything wrong,’’ Prosser says.

“She duffs the start and then she wants to over-race mid-race and then she is gassing herself out by the time she gets to the post.

“If she can put it all together on race day, the day she does it, she will look very impressive put it that way.

“I am chasing a little BOBS bonus win with her so I am just trying to pick my best option and Tuesday looks like a nice race for her.”

Prosser’s first runner on the card is the (rare) black-coloured gelding Impending Fortune who ought to relish the opportunity to step out to 1300m in Tuesday’s opener.

“It’s probably even a touch short,” Prosser said.

“He is still a little bit green and he still does a little bit wrong but 1300m on a big track like Moree should be perfect.”

Prosser has likewise found an ideal race on Tuesday for former Godolphin-housed galloper Montgolfier to record his second win in as many starts after a swashbuckling maiden win at Taree last start.

“I was very happy with how strong he was through the line,’’ his trainer said.

“I always thought for him to be winning races, he has to get over a little bit further but he has still got to learn to harness that energy between the 800m and the 600m, he just wants to get going and do too much.”

Prosser’s final runner at Moree is Calamity Fox whose record at the venue is a win and third from his two prior visits.

“He is one of those old horses who loves a trip away and I picked out three races for the other ones and I thought I’ll throw the old Fox on the float and take him.

“If he can get back to the form he had last prep he will run well. He likes the track.”

Originally published as Taree, Moree previews: Trainer Robert Agnew’s star galloper to show ‘em how it’s done