Sue Grills and connections will be waiting nervously for a phone call after The Kosciuszko slot holders are announced on Friday.
The reason is that Grills believes her in-form sprinter Just In Reach deserves a crack at the $2 million country-only race, which will be run and won at Royal Randwick on October 14.
The six-year-old wouldn’t be out of place, with Just In Reach winning four races on the trot.
Going through the grades late last year, Just In Reach won an 1100m Class One Handicap at Coonamble before beating recent John Carlton Cup winner and fellow Kosciuszko hopeful Proverbial by one and a half lengths in an 1100m Class Three Handicap at Scone.
He franked that form following a four-week freshen-up, again beating Proverbial – this time by half-a-length – in an 1100m Class Three Highway Handicap at Royal Randwick in December.
After going to the paddock, Just In Reach returned from a 36-week spell at Moree on Sunday, and with Ash Morgan in the saddle, he looked in fine fettle when winning the $35,000 Moree Town Plate (950m).
It was a handy win, too, with Just in Reach ($3.40) jumping poorly from gate one before settling third.
Still, he was full of running for Morgan when finding the front on the home straight before holding off Buffet Buster ($21) and short-priced favourite and fellow Kosciuszko hopeful Comonic ($1.45).
“He’s a smart horse, and it was a good win at Moree,” Grills told NSW Country and Picnic Racing.
“We didn’t go there overly confident because the horse was still hairy and a bit fat, and I told the owners we’d use it as a barrier trial.
“I hate barrier-trialling horses unless they really need it because it’s a waste of money, but he’s smart, and his class shone through.”
Grills believes he is a good candidate for The Kosciuszko, and she’s hoping connections haven’t missed the boat after the Outreach gelding was injured, meaning a delayed start to his current campaign.
Early on, he cut his back leg very badly but returned with no troubles, and six weeks into his new preparation, he required time off following a freak accident that nearly cost him his teeth.
“The reason he had six months off was because he fractured his teeth,” Grills said.
“He had two months off after that Highway win, and he was in work for about six weeks, and we don’t know what he did, but you should have seen it.
“He was lucky, and Scone (Equine Hospital) did a fantastic job on him, and you wouldn’t know he had any issues, but we had to give him six weeks off while he had the wire in, and after that, we were starting from scratch.”
Grills will leave no stone unturned in her endeavour to have Just In Reach picked in the $2 million race, with the gelding to step up to Saturday metropolitan grade on September 23.
He will go around in the 1100m Benchmark 78 Handicap at Rosehill Gardens, and Grills is hopeful that a good showing there will be enough to get him over the line.
“He’s stepping up from 950m to 1100m, which will suit, and if he won there, he’d have to be a chance, but it just depends on whether there are any slots left by then,” Grills said.
“The thing is, he’s coming good at the right time, and if he had been racing for six weeks like we’d originally planned, we’d have to back off him to have him right.
“This way, he’s racing in good form, he’s fresh, and if we do get picked, we can have him ready to fire on the day.
“It would be wonderful to get him in, and I think he is up to it, but if he doesn’t get picked, there are plenty of nice races around for him.”
Readers might want to take the $91 on offer for Just In Reach before his excursion to town because if he does win there, that price will come tumbling in.
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