A start in the $200,000 Wagga Gold Cup (2000m) were among the races on the radar of Zakeriz that have now been taken off the table after the fall.

Zakeriz, with Nyssa Burrells in the saddle, was brought crashing down at the 200 metre mark of the $50,000 Albury Mile.

Zakeriz escaped relatively unharmed but Hardy has put the horse first and sent him to the paddock for a spell.

"He seems pretty good," Hardy said.

"He was a bit sore for a couple of days. I put him in the paddock (on Tuesday) and he had a good gallop around.

"He'll go out for a good break now. He's been up for a good while and can go out now and have a good break."

Zakeriz was second-up last week after a freshen up early in the year.

His last campaign featured wins in the Cootamundra and Queanbeyan Cups, as well as the Ted Ryder Cup Prelude, before a close second in the main event.

Hardy confirmed the Wagga Gold Cup was on the agenda this preparation.

"We were hoping to go that way, yes," he said.

"If he was going well enough heading into it he would have gone around, it wasn't a definite, depending on how he was going."

...

APPRENTICE jockey Nyssa Burrells is expected to spend six to eight weeks on the sideline following the Albury fall.

Burrells was aboard Zakeriz in the Albury Mile when they fell in the home straight.

Burrells was initially found unconscious lying on the track but regained consciousness after a short period.

She was taken to Albury Base Hospital where she was found to have a compressed fracture of a vertebrae in her back.

"It was looking pretty ugly there for 20 minutes or so after the fall," Southern District chief steward Liam Martin said.

Burrells is expected to be out of the saddle for the next six to eight weeks.

A stewards inquiry into the cause of the fall has been adjourned and will be held once Burrells is feeling better, most likely in the next couple of weeks.

...

ALBURY three-year-old Sparring produced the first unplaced effort of his short career at Sandown on Wednesday.

Sent out the $4.80 second elect, Sparring finished fifth, beaten two lengths, in the $50,000 3YO Benchmark 64 Handicap (1000m).

It followed up a big win on debut and a close city second.

...

A NUMBER of regular Southern District jockeys will be represented in Saturday's $500,000 Country Championships Final (1400m) at Randwick.

A lot of the connections of horses that have made the final have stuck with country jockeys for the showpiece event.

Nick Heywood (Another One), Michael Heagney (Great Buy), Jordan Mallyon (To The Nines) and Mathew Cahill (Lockdown Gamble) are all regulars on the Southern District circuit that have been given an opportunity int he final.

Another One has drawn ideally in barrier eight, while Southern District runner up Tap N Run is only marginally further out in barrier 10.

...

TOP jockey John Kissick wasted no time returning to the winner's stall on Saturday.

Kissick made his return from about 11 months out with a broken leg at Holbrook on Saturday and his first ride back was a winning one.

He steered the Kevin Byrne-trained Force Awakens ($6.00) to an all-the-way victory.

"He was going better than me, I was looking for an oxygen tank with about 200m out," Kissick said with a laugh afterwards.

Kissick, who is riding at 58.5 kilograms, plans to ease back into race-riding. He will head to Hillston and Gundagai this weekend.

...

CANBERRA galloper Maid Of Ore is among the nominations for Sunday's $34,000 Gundagai Cup (1800m).

Maid Of Ore won the race last year, giving Billy Owen a popular win in his hometown cup.

Maid Of Ore has been allocated the top weight of 60.5 kilograms, alongside the Tracey Bartley-trained Miss Redoble.

Bartley, who is based at Wyong, nominated four for the feature. The majority of cup nominations are from visiting trainers, with the final field to be released on Thursday morning.

This year's Gundagai Cup does not carry exemption of the ballot for the Wagga Gold Cup.

...

JOSH Richards planned trip home didn't go as planned last week.

Richards had two rides on the opening day of the Albury carnival but both were scratched on race morning.

It was due to be Richards' first day back riding in the district since making the move to Melbourne.

He wasted no time making up for the missed opportunity, riding a winner at Moonee Valley on Friday night.

Richards still holds a comfortable lead in the Melbourne metropolitan apprentice jockey's premiership.

He is down to ride Mr Moppett again at Bendigo on Saturday, where the horse has gained a start in the $130,000 Benchmark 84 Handicap (1100m) as the first emergency.

...

SOUTHERN District chief steward Liam Martin praised a lot of the non-TAB clubs for the state of their tracks.

Martin said he was pleased to see big crowds flock to race meetings such as Holbrook and Ardlethan in recent weeks, and also praised the state of the tracks.

"They've been great," Martin said.

"The club's have done a great job to get things up and going in tough times."

Balranald was one club that have not been able to get their track back up to a safe condition after a couple of years off.

The club was scheduled to race on March 19 but the meeting was abandoned.

...

WHAT'S ON

GALLOPS

Saturday: Hillston (non-TAB)

Sunday: Gundagai (TAB)

TROTS

Friday: Young (TAB)

Tuesday: Junee (TAB)

DOGS

Saturday: Temora (TAB)