Newcastle crew eyeing big win in Kosciuszko with Talbragar

Now the Newcastle crew are heading to Randwick on Saturday for "a really big day" with a runner in the $2 million Kosciuszko.

The syndicate of six, which also includes Chris Prentice and brothers Andrew, Ian and Mark Pearson, spent $300 - a tiny investment compared to some winners - on tickets for the draw to decide 14 slot-holders for the richest race for country-trained horses. They were among winners last month and picked the Cody Morgan-trained Talbragar, which was an $18 TAB chance.

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"The kids talked me into it," John said. "My son and his mates have got a punters' club and they were mucking around, saying why don't we put in $50 each, so that's what we did, and away we went.

"Ian, Andrew, Shaun and myself had already booked to go to The Everest before all this, so now we're going to have a really big day rather than just a big day."

The group were slow to realise they had won but luckily they still got the horse they wanted.

"One of the boys is really keen on following the form and he had a couple he was interested in," John said.

"By the time we got around to it, all the favourites were probably gone, but it didn't matter because the one the boys were keen on, no one had spoken to them. They were happy to get the call and we secured the one the boys wanted in the first place.

"The horse is bred in the purple, by Snitzel out of a Golden Slipper winner [Overreach]. He's had three wins from three starts, albeit in low-grade country races, but often the big races in the class are won by up-and-coming horses rather than old warriors so we couldn't be happier."

John purchased the tickets from The Junction TAB and he thanked the operator who helped him by buying her flowers and a "ticket for a couple of bob each-way on the horse".