Race day previews, tips and inside mail for Wagga on Sunday

Trainer Ron Stubbs will be a step closer to a fourth straight Country Championship Final appearance should Cooee maintain his unbeaten record at Wagga on Sunday.

Trainer Ron Stubbs. Picture: Bradley Photos

Albury trainer Ron Stubbs will be a step closer to a fourth straight Country Championship Final appearance should his sparingly-raced six-year-old Cooee maintain his unbeaten status at Wagga on Sunday.

Stubbs’ hulking son of former Godolphin speed machine Holler was set aside after scoring back-to-back wins at home in May and while the margins were slight each time, there was considerable authority in each of the victories.

Cooee’s return to racing adds considerable interest to Sunday’s Congrats Mitch & Anna Benchmark 58 Handicap (1200m).

The Form: Complete NSW Racing thoroughbred form, including video replays and all you need to know about every horse, jockey and trainer. Find a winner here!

“He has been in work for quite a while,’’ Stubbs said.

“He is a big, gross doing horse. We are taking out time with him but we wanted to kick off at this time of year.

“He’s not locked into the Country Championships. He has got to come out and show us that he is capable of doing it. But he has had two runs, two wins, and you can’t have a better record.

“You look at his wins and you actually wonder how he won them.

“Whether he is going to be one of those horses that just puts his head out in front or whether he was lucky enough to find the right races early, time will tell.

“His work has been up to the mark,’’ Stubbs said.

“He trialled at Wodonga a few weeks ago and trialled well so it will be interesting.’’

. @RonStubbs4 has trained a quinella-double in at @AlburyRacing with Cooee and He's My Warrior running 1-2 in the final race!

Mathew Cahill take a bow also - 4 winners for the day! pic.twitter.com/d1zx5FgIJy

— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) June 7, 2024

Cooee will be joined on the 90-minute drive from Albury to Wagga on Sunday but his well-travelled stablemate Rumours Abound together with the former David Payne-trained gelding, He’s My Warrior.

Speed machine Rumours Abound campaigned on both sides of the Murray River last month, finishing second under lights in Sydney behind Gerringong prior to her most recent fifth at Caulfield on Boxing Day.

“Her run at Canterbury two starts back was full of merit,’’ Stubbs said.

“There’s a big boom on the winner that night and she beat the rest of the field with ease.

“If she comes out and puts her best foot forward, they’ll know she’s there.’’

On top of her recent metropolitan form, Rumours Abound can also lay claim to being one-for-one at the Wagga 1000m.

He’s My Warrior is sure to have his share of admirers, as usual, when he contests the Short N Sharp Country Boosted Class 2 Handicap (1400m).

The former Sydney-sider has raced on five occasions for Stubbs, returning three seconds, one of them a neck off his aforementioned stablemate, Cooee.

“I was a touch disappointed with him last start,’’ Stubbs said.

“Maybe it was second-up syndrome but I was rapt with his first run this prep.

“He is a sort of a professional placegetter at the moment so he really does have to put a win on the board to gain our confidence.’’

WAGGA TIPS

BEST BET

Race 2 No.4: Warpainted

Lightly-raced Gary Colvin-trained gelding, in form, and ready to win again.

NEXT BEST

Race 6 No.13: Rose Aye

Did some good things at her first campaign. In good hands.

VALUE BET

Race 4 No.1: Cooee

Unbeaten Ron Stubbs trained galloper with realistic Country Championships aspirations.

QUADDIE

Race 5: 4, 5, 7, 10

Race 6: 7, 13

Race 7: 6, 8, 10

Race 8: 2, 6

JOCKEY TO FOLLOW

Nick Heywood could be the leading jockey in NSW by wins after Sunday.

WYONG INSIDE MAIL

RACE 1

Launch Mode remains winless after his 14 starts but he has placed seven times. On top of that, the locally-housed son of Smart Missile has three thirds from four tries over this same track and distance and in some respectable company at times. Miss Fennell has the unwanted distinction of being beaten at her last two as the odds-on favourite. In fact she was $1.30 when rolled here on Jan 9. Can make amends.

Bet: Launch Mode to win, quinella 1,8

RACE 2

Warpainted brings together the Country Championship Final winner combination of Gary Colvin and Nick Hewyood. A son of Rosehill Guineas winner D’Argento, Warpainted won at Corowa over 1400m on Dec 28 before coming home to Wagga and finishing fourth in a Benchmark 58 over the mile. This looks easier without being easy. Divine Conclusion has finished first or second at half of his eight starts.

Bet: Warpainted to win

RACE 3

Associate is, IMHO, the best horse in the race so it all comes down to whether he can run 2000m. His pattern says, of course he can, and he has the pedigree to back him up being a grandson of AJC Derby winner Starcraft. Most importantly perhaps is that he is very fit. There are no issues at all with Victory Roll at 2000m given he has won over 2145m and ought to be near, or at, his peak here third-up off a last start second in the Cowra Cup.

Bet: Associate to win, exacta 1 to beat 2

RACE 4

Cooee is an unbeaten and untapped son of Holler from the Ron Stubbs stable at Albury. This sparingly-raced 6YO won a maiden on debut at home on May 20 then won his Class 1 there on June 7. Both were narrow margins, but there was authority in each of the wins. Has to do it playing “away” now but is clearly gifted. Just Google Me has barely put a hoof wrong in his five starts. Resumed on Xmas Eve on the Riverside here and stretched the handy Letme Entertainyou.

Bet: Cooee to win

RACE 5

Santorini Sun is one of the diminishing number of Choisir offspring still racing and is also from the same family as that outstanding US filly of 1995, Serena’s Song. Granted, this Natalie Jarvis-trained mare has only won two out of 26 but she has placed nine times and could just about have gone into this race on Sunday on a hat-trick. Nick Hewyood has the ride on the last start track/distance winner Wannabeapoodle. That was a strong Class 1 that day.

Bet: Santorini Sun each-way, quinella 5,10

RACE 6

Rose Aye is one of the (probably) five horses engaged here that is eligible for a $100,000 Inglis bonus. Matthew Dale bought the daughter of Supido for $13,000 at the HTBA Sale in 2023. Three starts down and Rose Aye has won $14,100 thanks to two good seconds either side of her eye-catching seventh of 16 in the Inglis Challenge. Majorca Sunset is another Inglis graduate here for a reason. Form reads like it well within her grasp. Cougars is speedy and drawn well.

Bet: Rose Aye each-way, exacta 13 to beat 7, quinella 7,13, Daily Double 1st leg (13), 2nd leg (6)

RACE 7

Rumours Abound is a handy and reliable mare from the Ron Stubbs stable whose CV reads, four wins, a second and a third from her 12 starts. The daughter of Press Statement has been in city company at her last two, namely a second at Canterbury to Gerrigong then a fifth at Caulfield. Add to that, she is one for one at the Wagga 1000m. Ticklebelly is a Highway winner at her last start and has beaten Rumours Abound in the past. Impossible not to like.

Bet: Rumours Ahead each-way, quinella 6,8. box trifecta 5,6,8,10

RACE 8

Under The Hood has got Highway horse written all over him. He is certainly in the right stable to get there and win one given Danielle Seib has won nine of them prior to Saturday’s Randwick feature. Under The Hood was $1.50 for good reason when he won here first-up on Jan 3 thanks to another now standard brilliant ride by Pierre Boudvillain. He’s My Warrior’s best is surely good enough to take this out. You’d like to think he is on his way to a peak, third-up and at 1400m.

Bet: Under The Hood to win, exacta 6 to beat 2

Originally published as Race day previews, tips and inside mail for Wagga on Sunday