Corowa trainer Geoff Duryea is hoping he can sort out 'unfinished business' in The Kosciuszko this spring, and take hundreds of members of a Wagga punters club along for the ride.
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Duryea's Front Page is racing in Group Two company in the $300,000 Bobbie Lewis Quality (1200m) and a decision on the $1.3 million The Kosciuszko is riding on his performance.
The trainer told The Daily Advertiser on Friday he was '100 per cent' ready to partner up with the William Farrer Hotel's Super Punters Club (SPC) if Front Page heads to the rich event at Randwick on October 16.
A winner of four his first seven starts, Front Page was due to be the SPC's runner in the 1200m feature race last year, only to be a late scratching due to an injury the day before the race.
"I feel we had a missed opportunity so I'm hoping that if he can hold his form, we can go back and finish some unfinished business," Duryea said.
Front Page is a $6 favourite in the early market for The Kosciuszko.
After 336 days between his seventh and eighth starts, the Magnus gelding returned to racing three weeks ago, with a fourth in the Stuart Murray Handicap (1200m) at Moonee Valley.
He was two lengths off the winner in the benchmark 90 handicap, and is a $15 chance in Saturday's Bobbie Lewis with the NSW TAB.
Duryea said the talented five-year-old was 'fine' and wasn't giving much away about where he'd like jockey Lewis German to settle Front Page down the famous straight six.
"Well, when they get near the winning post I'm hoping he'll be sitting in front," Duryea quipped.
German has piloted Front Page in his last four starts including a 1200m win at Flemington in June last year in the A R Creswick Stakes, a listed race for three-year-olds.
Other than having first option on Front Page, the SPC was on Friday still assessing the options for its two runners in The Kosciuszko with manager David Barnhill saying they had "some irons in the fire".
The group missed out on the possibility of snaring Victorem, which is one of three second favourites in the TAB market.
Wagga trainer Gary Colvin said he hadn't been overwhelmed with interest in Another One ($15) as of Friday afternoon.
"I've had a couple of bites but I haven't got any genuine deals yet so we'll just wait and see what happens," Colvin said.
"If we don't make it, I said to the owners there's other ways we can go. Don't worry about that."
Another One claimed the $150,000 SDRA Country Championship (1400m) early this year and was second in the $500,000 final at Randwick in April. He resumed with a third in the Ian Reid Sprint at Wagga last month.
"He pulled up terrific. He's ready to go... he was a bit underdone and it was a good hard hit out," Colvin said.
"Another run under his belt and he probably would've been right."
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