THEY soldiered on with the meeting last year in the midst of devastating bushfires, but 12 months on Tumbarumba Cup organisers will be hoping rain doesn't spoil the party this Saturday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
With heavy rain predicted on Friday night Wantabadgery trainer Rodger Waters, who will saddle up Sizzleonthebridge in the $10,000, 1400m feature, hopes they can defy Mother Nature again.
"Everyone will have an eye on the sky and we are concerned about the weather. My horse isn't a wet tracker either," he said.
A year ago Waters was helping his brother, Mont, relocate his horses and save as much of his property as possible during the bushfires.
This year's lead-up to the cup has been far less dramatic.
"He (Mont) got burned out and at one stage I had three horses, his kids, wife and about 14 dogs at my place," Waters said.
"It'll take years for them to recover financially and mentally it would affect you as well. Driving through there the day after the fire, it was bloody horrendous.
"If you look back to last year, they were probably lucky to run it because everything got shut down due to COVID."
Waters isn't too concerned about Sizzleonthebridge's last start at Wagga on January 19, where he drew wide and covered plenty of ground in finishing second-last in the 12-horse field.
He won his previous start at Forbes over 1300m by two lengths on January 2.
"I think he's in it up to his ears. It was a good win (two starts back), up until his last race his form has been pretty good," Waters said.
"It was just one of those things at Wagga, he drew a wide barrier and got trapped out wide, things didn't go his way."
Tumut Cup winner Bravado Lass will be one of the leading contenders in the seven-horse field after he justified his skinny odds in a dominant Tumut Cup win on January 16.
The Gary Colvin-trained runner will be ridden by stable apprentice Hannah Williams, who scored a winning double at Albury on Thursday.
Canberra trainer Doug Gorrel's Imitation Game should also be tough to beat.
READ MORE
