Tricky Medal No Amateur When It Comes To Cups

Tricky Medal No Amateur When it Comes to Cups

Townsville trainer Stephen Bush wishes he had a stable full of horses as tough as his ever consistent galloper Medal.

The much-travelled gelding has won two country cups so far this year and has a strong chance of claiming a third in Sunday’s Gabrielli Constructions Townsville Amateur Cup (1609m) at Cluden Park.

With wins in the Bowen and Ewan Cups, and placings in the Gordonvale and Oak Park Cups under his belt, there won’t be a fitter horse in the weekend’s feature.

But if there’s a chink in his armour, it’s Medal’s habit of “clocking off” when challenged in the closing stages, according to Bush who trains a small team with wife Michelle, a former national barrel race champion.

“He’s a very tough horse. The tougher it gets the more he loves it,” Bush said.

“The horse has done a pretty good job. But even though he’s won six races for us he’s run 10 seconds and he could have won a fair few of them but for his tricks.

“As soon as he knows there’s another horse coming he looks for it and has a think and sometimes changes his mind.

“He’s been beaten in a fair few photos. Michelle is cranky on him but all of those seconds add up.

“We’re always looking at different ways to keep him switched on. I expect him to be a very strong chance on the weekend.”

Medal has covered thousands of kilometres since he first raced in New Zealand as a two-year-old.

The now six-year-old went on to race in Victoria and then Tasmania before Bush and his wife Michelle bought him last year with a solitary win to his name.

Since then the Savabeel gelding has chalked up six wins and 14 placings.

And while the Bushes are confident of another strong effort on Sunday from the wily Medal and his less fancied stablemate Wise Dragon, they’re also hoping for a Brisbane trip in coming weeks.

Bush is waiting to see if Medal scrapes into the field for the Country Cups Challenge final at Doomben on November 30 after finishing third in  a qualifying heat at Home Hill a fortnight ago.

“I’m nominating and he still has a chance to go down. We’ll just have to wait and see what’s entered and hope that he gets a run.” Bush said.

“I think the mile will suit him perfectly.”

Bush has had a welcome return to form in recent weeks, with Medal’s consistent efforts and two wins with short-course galloper Midas Touch at TAB fixtures at Innisfail.

He and Michelle recently thinned out their team to four in work but are looking at building up numbers again in the next few months.

“It was time to go through them and move some on. We just bought a couple of sprinters that are supposed to be half handy and I’m also after a couple of milers for next season,” Bush said.

“We’re building up the numbers again to around 10 and that’s enough and we’ll just train our own.”

The annual amateurs race day has attracted an eight-event race card, which also features the Amateur Sprint (1200m) and Great Northern Brewing Co. 3YO (1000m).