SOUTHERN District duo Loved Up and Yet Tobe Convinced missed victory but still performed admirably in Monday’s postponed $300,000 Country Championship Final (1400m) at Randwick.
Like the Southern District heat on March 15, Loved Up and Yet Tobe Convinced finished side by side in sixth and seventh position.
Both horses finished the race strongly but were six lengths behind dominant winner Artlee ($6.00), who qualified through the wild card race.
Trained by Todd Willan at Muswellbrook, Artlee relished the heavy conditions to score by three lengths.
Loved Up ($8.00) was wide throughout, after jumping from the outside barrier, and finished strongly to run into sixth place.
Yet Tobe Convinced ($17.00) settled near last and made a stack of ground to finish seventh.
It was not all bad news for the Riverina connections, who still got a chunk of the lucrative prizemoney.
Loved Up, owned by a large group of people, picked up $4000.
Yet Tobe Convinced, owned by Craig Hardy, earnt $2250 for seventh.
Canberra mare Just A Blur finished fifth and is being aimed towards the $140,000 Wagga Gold Cup on May 1.
As part of the Country Championship Final editors challenge, $5000 went to the Cancer Council due to Artlee’s win.
Racing NSW chief executive Peter V’Landys could not have been happier with how the Country Championship series unfolded and confirmed it will be back next year.
“The Country Championships series has been a revelation, sparking an amazing amount of interest,” he said.
“Next year’s version is certain to become even bigger and better.”
