Racing: Melanie O'Gorman eyeing Hunter and North West Country Championships qualifier with So Country

The gelding's win in Monday's Nutrien Ag Solutions Gilgandra/Bob Foran Memorial Gilgandra Town Plate (1100m), should, O'Gorman believes, improve his benchmark enough to get a start in next month's Hunter and North West qualifier.

"I think with that win it should take his rating high enough that he should secure a run in that race," she said.

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"And he would get in with a nice weight because he'll go in as a Class 4 horse."

O'Gorman, who co-owns the Shamexpress (NZ)-Are You Devious (NZ) gelding with former rugby league and union player Duncan McRae, previously tasted success in the qualifier in 2018 with Suncraze, the gelding then going on to finish seventh in the final.

"It'd be nice to have a runner in the race, I haven't had one for a couple of years," she said.

So Country has been a consistent performer for O'Gorman with Monday his fourth career win from 10 starts, to go along with four seconds.

"I've always thought that the horse deserves a shot at the race," she said.

"I'm not saying he's good enough to win it by any means. But I've always thought that I'd love to have him in the heat here in Tamworth."

The only question mark is the step up to 1400m having never been tested over the distance before.

"So that would be the big question mark going into a race like the Country Championships, would he run 1400m, but here on his home track it would be lovely to have him in the race," she said.

Tamworth will host the Hunter and North West qualifier on Sunday February 26.

O'Gorman had flagged the Gilgandra race a while ago feeling like she needed to "get one more win under his belt" to make sure his rating was high enough to secure a run.

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A "good fresh horse", she said she might give him a trial between now and then but he won't have another race.

It was a tight finish on Monday with a photo required to decide the winner, So Country adjudged to have just snuck home on the outside.

Positioned "back from the post", O'Gorman didn't really have a good view of the finish.

"So when the race caller called him first I thought he's got there," she said.

"But then while they were waiting for the horses and jockeys to come back to scale they called for the photo. So I was actually a bit nervous then thinking on no maybe I've gone off too early.

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"But a few locals who were there saw me coming through the crowd and said 'no Mel I think you've got it'."

O'Gorman said it was a "terrific ride" from Mikayla Weir.

"Even though it was a small margin it was a good win the way he really hit the line," she said.

"He's always been a really honest horse that knows his job and as you saw yesterday (Monday) really knows how to put in the last 100 and it was a great job from Mikayla"

Her attention this weekend is at Glen Innes where she has Baisey and Me in The Sherbert Beauty Co Maiden Plate and Go Seeking in the Ray White Glen Innes Benchmark 58 Handicap.

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