This time next week, Wagga trainer Scott Spackman will be gearing up for the race of his life.
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He will be Sydney bound with stable star O’ So Hazy for the inaugural $1.3 million Kosciuszko (1200m) for the state’s best bush sprinters.
But on Friday, Spackman will be off to defend his crown at the annual Lockhart picnics, where he will saddle up Cryfowl in the $6500 Verandah Town Cup (1400m).
Spackman won the race last year with Black Fusion and is back to defend the title this year with recent stable addition Cryfowl.
Despite what lies ahead in the next 10 days, Spackman is still looking forward to getting to Lockhart in a bid to win the Cup a second time.
“It was awesome last year,” Spackman said.
“My sister in law is from Lockhart, Sharon. It’s a great day out and it’s good to support those little clubs.
“If we’ve got the right horses to do that with then we’ll do it, if we haven’t, we haven’t.
“We are looking to get better horses in work obviously all of the time but when that little carrot’s there, that $50,000 final at Dubbo, you’ve got to have a crack at it.”
There is a $50,000 final for the best performed NSW picnic horses held in Dubbo each September.
Spackman finished second in last year’s final with Black Fusion and is eyeing off another crack next year with Cryfowl.
The five-year-old has had four starts since joining the Spackman stable from Darren Weir.
Spackman has been happy with his two latest runs and is confident he will prove hard to beat in the Cup at Lockhart.
“It looks very suitable,” he said.
“His two runs this time around, at Grenfell and then Coota the other day, were outstanding runs. We had no joy from the gate at Coota.
“It’s probably not ideal being a class one horse in a Cup but we’re looking to qualify him for the $50,000 final at Dubbo so we’ll kick it off here and then go to Harden after this one.”
Cryfowl has 65 kilograms in the Cup and will be ridden by Toby Lake from barrier four. Lake is no stranger to success in the race after combining with Spackman to win last year on Black Fusion.
Spackman believes Cryfowl is one of three leading contenders in this year’s event.
“Tearful Kitty can produce,” he said.
“Little Red Devil on his day but obviously he’s first up, but Andy (Dale) will have him right, he’s a very good trainer.
“I thought they were the top three.”
Spackman hopes Cryfowl can settle closer to the speed on Friday after drawing a much better barrier than recent starts.
“We’re drawn four (on Friday) so we’ll be able to be a little bit more positive from the gate,” he said.
“We’ll go forward and probably be box seating or just behind them midfield. We’ve got to keep this horse in his rhythm, we don’t want to take him out of his comfort zone. We’ve put a tongue tie on him his last two starts and that seems to have helped him immensely with his breathing so hopefully we can win tomorrow and help repay his owners.”
