Racing: Talbragar makes it three wins from three starts

Following an impressive four length victory on Tamworth's Country Championships Day back in March, there was a lot interest around the Cody Morgan-trained gelding as he made his racing return, and he showed why cruising to an almost two length win over the Craig Clegg-trained Briefly.

"We've put a lot of work into him and it was great to see him come back like that," Morgan told Sky Thoroughbred Central post-race.

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It was the five-year old's third win from as many starts and second since he joined Morgan's stable. Previous to that he was with Dubbo-based jockey-turned trainer-turned jockey Kody Nestor, who incidentally rode him on Monday.

Already in Kosciuszko conversations, by only a few minutes after the race Talbragar had gone from $17 in the pre-noms betting into $15, Morgan confirming the $2m race is in the plans.

"I'd like to give him one more run and then if he's lucky enough to be picked for a Kosciusko that's the way we'll head," he said.

He is though a bit of an unknown, Morgan conceding they "don't know what he is".

"I say it all the time, if you knew that he was just a Class 2 country horse for the amount of work that goes into him, honestly you'd move him on," he said.

"But we don't know how good he is and we'll keep persevering while ever we don't."

A "real handful", as he put it, he said he is "fine" on race day; he's just "tough work track work".

"There's not many people that can stay on his back," he said.

"(But) He beats all our horses up. He can can really gallop at home, so it's good to see him do it race day."

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Morgan wasn't the only local trainer to pick a win with Torowoto romping to a four-and-a-half length win on debut for Craig Martin.

The seven-year-old gelding is only a recent addition to Martin's yard coming down from Tony Gollan in Queensland earlier this month, but was dominant in winning the Welcome H&NWRA Presidents' Tamworth Class 2 Handicap (1600m).

Martin told Sky Thoroughbred Central he was "probably a bit underdone" going in but "did the job well".

"He's definitely a stayer in the making," he said.

"I think he's got a bit of a future given a bit of ground, get to that mile-and-a-quarter, a bit further."

Golden Point then picked up where he left off, resuming from a 27-week spell to win the Elite Sand & Soil Tamworth Rush (1200m) for Armidale trainer Stirling Osland.

A last start TAB Highway winner at Rosehill back in February, Osland was a bit worried heading in that the five-year-old didn't have a trial under his belt (he did have him in at Scone but it was cancelled).

But it didn't bother the gelding, who kicked away strongly in the closing stages to beat a class field that included another of Morgan's Kosciuszko hopefuls in Anethole, who was having his first start back since his sixth in the Country Championship Final.

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Osland said the concern was probably more for his own piece of mind.

"He had a couple of bone chips taken out of his fetlocks post those Rosehill runs and you just want to see him come back and do everything right and we just had to wait till race day and he didn't disappoint that's for sure," he told Sky Thoroughbred Central.

"If he pulls up well it looks like we'll have another fun prep with him."

Golden Point is listed at $34 in the Kosciuszko betting, but Osland said there are no immediate plans.

"Just take him home," he said.

"We sort of didn't really look too hard into it. We sort of wanted to find something nice first up."

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