Hometown hero South Of India chasing Group 3 The Warra win on home turf

Trainer Ross McConville expects talented sprinter South Of India can surge back into form at Kembla Grange on Saturday.

South Of India will hunt his biggest win on home turf. Picture: Jeremy Ng/Getty Images

Trainer Ross McConville is confident hometown hero South Of India can bounce back to his best when he chases a career highlight in the Group 3 $300,000 The Warra (1000m) at Kembla Grange on Saturday.

McConville has had his home track’s richest sprint on the radar since the winter after South Of India went on a terrific run over the first seven months of the year, winning five straight races.

But South Of India failed to fire in his return last month when he only beat a runner home as favourite in a 1000m event on Big Dance day at Royal Randwick.

McConville believes he had excuses and expects his lightly-raced four-year-old to recapture his top form in the undercard on $1m The Gong day.

• Tasmania snares Victoria’s top racing cop

He's done it again! 👏👏

In scenes reminiscent of Think It Over's Queen Elizabeth, @nashhot goes to the extreme outside and wins the last on South Of India!

He's now just three behind @mcacajamez in the Sydney jockeys' premiership 🔥 pic.twitter.com/WdFq6AlEJQ

— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) July 13, 2024

“We not sure what happened but we think he might have had a mouth problem first-up,” McConville said.

“I don’t know if the bit upset or if he had an infection in the bottom of his mouth.

“But he is over now anything.

“It’s great to have a runner in it, we are just hoping the rain doesn’t keep up because he doesn’t like the wet.”

• PUNT LIKE A PRO: Become a Racenet iQ member and get expert tips – with fully transparent return on investment statistics – from Racenet’s team of professional punters at our Pro Tips section. SUBSCRIBE NOW!

McConville has only trained for the past three seasons having previously been heavily involved in the stable of Kembla trainer and partner Gwenda Markwell until her passing in 2022.

If South Of India was to win the Warra, it would undoubtedly be the biggest victory of McConville’s short training career.

It would be made more special by the fact that McConville bred South Of India with Markwell.

South Of India is by Churchill out of the four-time winner for Markwell, the speedy mare Minnesota.

The talented sprinter has been a revelation for the stable and has continued to improve with racing.

Trainer Ross McConville is chasing his biggest career win. Picture: Jeremy Ng/Getty Images

• Waller galloper under cloud for Railway Stakes

“He’s been a big surprise,” McConville said.

“I didn’t think much of him at all when we first had him when he was a yearling.

“He has surprised us and has developed physically as a horse.

“He was only a small yearling and he’s got a big horse but is medium sized and very powerfully built now.”

South Of India is rated a $13 chance to deliver the locals their first win in The Warra with the race set to be run as a Group 3 for the first time.

The Mick Price and Michael Kent Jr-trained Hedged ($4.50 favourite) is in line to make his return with Godolphin galloper Fleetwood ($5), Matt Smith’s Headwall ($5) and last start winner Dragonstone ($6) among the contenders.

Quick Tempo was runner-up to Insurrection in last year’s The Warra but is a $34 outsider to go one better this year.

Originally published as Hometown hero South Of India chasing Group 3 The Warra win on home turf