Billy Owen the toast of town after Gundagai Cup win

A decade after combining with Canberra trainer Nick Olive to win a hometown feature with Voice Commander, Owen repeated the dose with Maid Of Ore to book her place in the Wagga Gold Cup next month.

Stepping down the grade after down the track performances in the listed cups at Albury and Canberra, Owen was thrilled his plan with the top weight paid off.

"I picked out this race a month ago and I've been begging the boss (Olive) to think about it," Owen said.

"He talked the owners around and we got the job done so it was really good.

"She has carried weight before and when she got 61 I knew it wasn't going to be a problem.

"Her form doesn't read as good if you don't go into it but she just needed a drop back in grade to get that back of confidence so she should get plenty out of today."

Maid Of Ore ($5) went on to down Nieces And Nephews ($8) by a length.

The win sees Maid Of Ore exempt from the ballot in the $200,000 Wagga Gold Cup.

Owen expects Olive will head that way with the six-year-old.

Meanwhile Wagga trainer Gary Colvin has spent Another One to the paddock after a gritty display saw him finish second behind Art Cadeau in the $500,000 Country Championships final at Randwick on Saturday.

From a wide barrier Nick Heywood had little luck with the three-year-old but he was there fighting out the finish.

Colvin was thrilled with the performance.

"It was a great day," Colvin said. "The barrier draw was probably a bit unfavourable to us as the horse who won had a nice draw and an easy run while he had to do it a bit hard but I was rapt with the way he finished off.

"It was really good and it gives us something to work with."

Colvin is looking to keep his options open with the Kosciuszko or a second tilt at the Country Championships among the options being considered.

"He's only a three-year-old so he's got it all ahead of him now," he said.

"He'll go for a break now and we'll look at the programmes."

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