Country Championships: Cody Morgan-trained Talbragar to run in final

Or at least, that's what his trainer, Cody Morgan believes. And come the Country Championships final this weekend, the five-year-old gelding will have the chance to prove why he is the favourite.

"He's just so unpredictable," Morgan said.

"With him, until he jumps out of the barriers, you don't know what you're going to get."

But such is the sheer talent that Talbragar possesses, he has still amassed a record of six starts and five wins despite his inherent capriciousness.

The most recent of those came in the Country Championships qualifier in Scone on March 20, where he powered down the final straight to claim victory by a length and left onlookers in awe.

That win, Morgan said, confirmed that Talbragar is the most talented horse he has trained.

"That win shut everyone up," he said.

"I've been doing solid training 10 years, and I haven't had one as good as him. He's pretty good."

The only question that remains as to their chances tomorrow at Royal Randwick is the level of activity Talbragar has kept up of late.

In the last four weeks, he has run twice, and the challenge for Morgan has been to keep him from overworking.

"The only thing that's in the back of my mind is that he's backing up again," he said.

"In an ideal world, if he'd qualified through Tamworth, you've got that month or so between [races]."

But a significant factor in their favour will be the presence of champion New Zealand jockey, James McDonald, in the saddle.

The 31-year-old was the 2021 World Jockey of the Year in the TRC Global Rankings, and has ridden 77 Group 1 winners in his career.

And, Morgan revealed, is was Talbragar's performance in Scone that spurred McDonald's offer to ride him.

"They were presenting the trophy in the ring the other day, and my phone was blowing up. I had everyone calling me," Morgan said.

"James was the first one to call."

McDonald has occasionally ridden for Morgan in the past, but the Tamworth trainer has "never really had good enough horses for him to ride".

As it happens, one of their few previous collaborations took place in the 2020 Country Championships final, when McDonald rode Ligulate to an eighth-place finish.

If ever there was a horse with the talent to go better, Morgan knows Talbragar is it.

"He's always had that ability. [His success] hasn't shocked me at all," he said.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: