There’s no doubt that Connie Greig is the Cobar Cup queen.
Greig won the 2019 and 2021 editions of the Cobar Cup with Naoko, while the veteran mare also won the 2020 Cobar Picnic Cup.
Naoko won the race with three different jockeys, with Rasit Yetimova winning in 2019, Leandro Ribeiro in 2020 and Chelsea Ings in 2021.
The Dubbo trainer won her fourth Cobar feature race in as many years, with Jake Barrett guiding Valadyium to victory in the 2022 Cobar Cup.
If that wasn’t enough, Greig won her fifth Cobar Cup, with Ribeiro guiding Merdeka to victory in the 2022 Cobar Picnic Cup in August of last year.
On Saturday, the top country and picnic trainer appears to have two live chances in the $12,000 WesTrac Cobar Cup (1700m), with defending champion Valadyium (William Stanley) to jump from gate 6, while Gossip (Ken Dunbar) has drawn the inside with gate 1.
Greig didn’t want to pick one horse over the other when asked whom her best chance on Saturday was, even leaving the decision on which jockey would ride which horse to Dunbar.
“Look, I can’t pick one; I’ve given Kenny the choice, and he rides both of them and likes both of them,” Greig said.
“He doesn’t want them in the same race, but they are, and at the end of the day, if either can win, I’m happy with that.”
Greig will take five runners to Cobar, with ever-consistent sprinters Brooklyn Star (Ronald Simpson) and Billy Bent Ear (Ken Dunbar) taking on the 1000m Benchmark 58 Handicap, and Greig believes the stablemates are both live chances.
“I can’t split them,” Greig said.
“Brooklyn Star should beat Billy Bent Ear, but he is a bit of a freak and can pull one out, so who knows.”
The stable will also race Jasiri (Ken Dunbar) in the 1200m Class One Handicap, with the former Michael, Wayne, and John Hawkes-trained galloper a somewhat unknown quantity.
“We’re still figuring her out, and I don’t know if she is a sprinter or if she is up to it,” Greig said.
It’s always a very popular meeting at Cobar, and with the track in excellent condition, there will be some good racing on the six-race non-TAB card.
“I think it is a fair track, I really do,” Greig said.
“I’ve won from the front and back, and that to me tells me it’s a fair track; the shape of the track is good, it’s a good surface, and they never have any issues, and I think it suits the best horse on the day, which is all you ever want.”
On the day, there will be plenty of off-track entertainment, including fashions on the field, entertainment, bookies, food, and refreshments.
For more on the race day, click here.
For fields, click here.
Cobar tips
Race 1: 6 – Kubaba (Best bet)
Race 2: 1- Brooklyn Star
Race 3: 1 – Hurn Court
Race 4: 5 – Gunnerside (Best value)
Race 5: 1 – Sindagar
Race 6: 4 – Valadyium
