The Country Championship series was designed to make a real difference to those who lived and trained outside of the major centres.
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It’s already had a profound affect on Mudgee trainer David Smith and he has already dared to imagine what will happen if he is to win.
Smith and his star galloper Distinctive Look will make the trip to Randwick on Friday before lining up in the $400,000 Country Championships Final on Friday.
“It would be life changing,” Smith said of what a win in the rich feature would mean.
“Especially for me and (my partner) Tash. We own a share in him along with my brother and my father so it would be life changing and would help hopefully bring some clients in.”
It would be life changing ... for me and (partner) Tash.
- Trainer David Smith
Distinctive Look booked a place in the final after winning the $150,000 Central Districts Qualifier at Wellington on February 19.
Some of the prizemoney from there has already helped the training duo purchase a block of land where the pair hope to build stables, expand their number of horses and make a successful career in the racing game.
And Smith is quietly confident he will have quite a few more funds after Saturday’s race.
Distinctive Look heads into the Final in as fine a form as any other in the race.
And while many have tipped the chances from the consistently strong Hunter and Northern regions, Smith has total confidence in his four-year-old gelding.
“I can’t believe he drifted in the market after drawing a favourable barrier,” he said, with jockey Koby Jennings to jump from gate nine.
“I think there’s some people not rating him because they consider the Wellington Qualifier one of the lower benchmark class races and he only won by a half length.
“But they don’t take into account how the Wellington track id and if that was at somewhere like Scone I think there would have been different margins.”
Smith’s confidence is justified and everything up to this point has fallen into place.
Smith sat with Jennings at dinner after a win in a Highway Handicap event in September of last year and the pair mapped out a path to the Country Championships Final.
Another win in a Highway even followed and since a spell he’s scored two wins and a second-placed finish.
“Relief is not really the word but I’m thrilled. It’s unreal,” Smith said of his plan coming to fruition.
With Jennings having been part of the planning process and riding Distinctive Look to such a strong win at Wellington there was never any chance of Smith opting for someone else, despite other finalists calling on the likes of Hugh Bowman, Kerrin McEvoy and Joao Moreira.
“There’s no reason to take him off,” Smith said.
The Final is at 1.55pm Saturday.
Nick Guthrie
I started working at the Daily Liberal in 2013 and now hold the position of senior journalist. I cover all that's happening in sport in Dubbo and the wider western area and have a passion for doing so. If you've got a story that needs telling, reach out.
I started working at the Daily Liberal in 2013 and now hold the position of senior journalist. I cover all that's happening in sport in Dubbo and the wider western area and have a passion for doing so. If you've got a story that needs telling, reach out.
