By his admission, he’s ‘nearly a Queenslander’, with Campbell Roberts based between the North Western township of Boomi and the Queensland regional hub of Goondiwindi.
On Saturday, the part-time NSW trainer will be racing at his ‘home track’ when making the 40-minute trip to Garah for the annual Talmoi Picnic Race Club meeting.
Contesting the Black Truck and Ag – Helen Boland Memorial Bracelet Trophy Handicap (1000m), Koruto will look to do the stable proud.
Ricky Blewitt is in the saddle, and the five-year-old has drawn gate one in the small field of five.
“He’ll park in behind them, and I’ll just be happy if he is running into a nice second or third,” Roberts said.
“Talmoi is a very reader-ish type of track, but with 10mm of rain, it will be a bit softer, and that might even it out.”
An Inglis Digital sale, Koruto had started 18 times for three wins and four placings when he arrived at Roberts’ property.
By Written Tycoon and out of Avon Park, he raced for Phil Stokes, winning races at Strathalbyn, Balaklava, and Murray Bridge.
While he has shown ability, getting him to the races hasn’t been smooth sailing.
“We picked him up 12 months ago and gave him a three-month break, and we had him ready to rock and roll, but then we had the floods in November,” Roberts explained.
“After that, we brought him back, but he had a little injury, so we had to back off him.”
On ability, Koruto will eventually head north and race at Toowoomba with Tom Dougall.
Still, Roberts wants to ensure his galloper is 100% right after a disappointing first-up fourth placing in the Moree Vanderfield Picnic Bracelet late last month.
“Peter Sinclair rides him in fast work, and we went to Moree thinking he would turn up and get the job done and then go to Coonamble, but that all went out the window after that run at Moree,” Roberts said.
“I know what the horse can do off what he has shown us in work, and I had all intentions of sending him to Tommy Dougall in Toowoomba because he works like he is up to that class.
“Hopefully, we’ve ironed out a couple of issues with him, and we’ll see how he runs at Talmoi tomorrow.”
With some rain about, Roberts is keeping his options open, with Koruto also entered in the 1000m Benchmark 60 Handicap at Roma tomorrow.
“I’ve got him in a TAB race at Roma, and it’s on the sand, and a good, strong rider in Paul Hamblin will ride him, as he wanted to hang out a bit at Moree,” Roberts said.
Campbell Roberts is no stranger to success at Talmoi
Racing at Talmoi is in the Roberts blood, with Campbell, the son of former trainer and Talmoi club patron and life member Geoff Roberts.
“It’s been in the family; my father trained for years, and he was in the same boat as me, and he trained in the 70s and 80s,” Roberts said.
“When I went away and left for school, I spent 14 months or so with David Hayes and then came back here, and I’ve always got one or two horses in work for some good times.”
Roberts has enjoyed some recent success, with Only Choice and Mysticism being consistent gallopers in the North West.
Only Choice won at Mallawa in 2019 before taking out the Talmoi Cup that same year, beating local legends Oh Why and Track Flash in the third leg of the Golden Triangle.
Mysticism was a four-time winner for the stable, bringing up all her victories at Moree between 2017-2019, while she was ever-consistent, running second to Upstart in the 2019 Gwydir Cup before her third placing to Free Billy in the 2020 edition of the same race.
The Written Tycoon mare out of Bridie’s Love also ran consecutive fourths in the 2019 and 2020 Moree Cups, beaten by Upstart and Beacon, respectively, while she finished off her career with an excellent second to Upstart in the 2021 Inverell Cup.
Mysticism is now in foal, and Only Choice is a hack on the Gold Coast, and most recently, Roberts trained Incomparable to a win at Toowoomba back in 2021 before sending him north to race in the Sunshine State.
“Incomparable is a nice horse, and we had him here, but he doesn’t travel too well,” Roberts said.
“He won for us up there at Toowoomba when we had him, but I moved him to Tommy Dougall’s place, and he is racing well up there without having to travel.”
Big day for Talmoi
Saturday is a massive day for Talmoi, with an excellent six-race card set to entertain a big crowd of local and visiting racing fans.
Racing jumps at 1.05pm, and the Peter Sinclair-trained Fiocchi will chase Golden Triangle history in the 2023 Talmoi Picnic Cup.
NSW Country and Picnic Racing Tips
Race 1 – (1) I am I am
Race 2 – (6) Red Line
Race 3 – (3) Koruto
Race 4 – (3) Individualist
Race 5 – (1) Pahang
Race 6 – (1) Danspur
For fields, click here.
For more on the race day, click here.
