Kim Waugh could have one of the biggest days of her career if Shadows Of Love can take out Saturday’s $1m Provincial-Midway Championship Final.
She will be hoping 2024 is her year after having qualified runners in all nine previous finals and being placed five times.
But the major prize has eluded her, and she’ll be relying on her talented mare to get the job done.
A long-term plan by Waugh to start the mare in the Gosford Qualifer on March 16 paid off when she outsprinted her rivals in the straight to claim success.
“She’s been going very good and I’m really happy with her. She’s a tough mare who has gone from strength to strength,” Waugh said.
Shadows Of Love was Waugh’s last winner and she’ll be hoping a home track victory with stablemate Bellenth (pictured) could set the tone for things to come.
The well-bred Helbent gelding put in a strong performance on debut at Hawkesbury on March 28 over the 1100m.
He had trialed well leading into his first start, winning both outings including an eye-catching two length victory over the 1000m at Hawkesbury on February 27.
Waugh has opted to step the three-year-old up in distance at Wyong on Thursday in the 1350m Super Maiden.
“The extra distance should suit him really well,” she said. “He missed the start at Hawkesbury and got behind them. He’s done really well since and this looks like a nice race for him.”
Jay Ford will partner the gelding who has drawn well in five.
Ford also partners Churchill four-year-old Bertie who has his first start for the Waugh stable in the 1350m Provincial Maiden.
The gelding has trialed twice and steps up to provincial grade, having had all four previous runs in the country.
“He’s been doing really good and working well. I’ve been happy with his trials, and we will see how he measures up in this grade.”
Rounding out the Waugh trio on the nine-race program is Shemran, who resumes in the 1350m Class 1.
“It’s a good starting point for him and he should be in for a good preparation.”
The So You Think gelding who broke through for his maiden win over 1890m at Muswellbrook last preparation and was runner-up at Wyong over 2100m in his next start on November 23.
The first of nine races gets underway at 12.15pm, with the track currently rated a Soft 7.
SELECTIONS:
Race 1 – 12.15pm: HMA GROUP MAIDEN (2100m): 1 HONGKONG HARMONY, 2 Pine Valley, 3 Icebreaker, 4 Éclair Dancer.
Race 2 – 12.50pm: HMA INSTRUMENTATION MIDWAY BM68 (1350m): 1 CHEVRON, 2 Pennart, 3 Putt For Dough, 4 Tip Top Timing.
Race 3 – 1.25pm: HMA POWER GENERATION PROVINCIAL MAIDEN (1350m): 1JUMP IN THE LINE, 2 Black Tiara, 3 More Voltage, 4 Oakfield Hawk.
Race 4 – 2.05pm: HMA MATERIALS HANDLING SUPER MAIDEN (1350m): 1 BELLENTH, 2 One Command, 3 Make A Call, 4 Waverley.
Race 5 – 2.40pm: HMA FLOW & INDUSTRIAL CLASS 1 (1350m): 1 EYE OF THE FIRE, 2 Wembanyama, 3 Bold Julius, 4 Bestower.
Race 6 – 3.20pm: HMA GEOTECHNICAL MAIDEN (1000m): 1 RUM DIARY, 2 Keysborough, 3 Super Zippi, 4 Candy Women.
Race 7 – 3.55pm: HMA GTECH CYCLONES BM64 (1100m): 1 SLINKY, 2 Single Benefactor, 3 Cassiel, 4 Time Bandit.
Race 8 – 4.35pm: HMA WEAR SOLUTIONS BM64 (1100m): 1 CROSS YOUR HEART, 2 Drums Of War, 3 Keep Your Cool, 4 Suprina.
Race 9 – 5.10pm: HMA CLASS 1 HANDICAP (1600m): 1 PROFESSOR PICKLES, 2 Draco’s Fire, 3 Dunedin, 4 Highborn Harry.
