Blackall’s racing patrons got a taste of the new Racing Queensland series designed to give country racers the experience of a Group One raceday, on Saturday.
There were almost 400 people on hand at the annual Beef Producers race meeting to cheer Miles trainer, Bevan Johnson’s Fab’s Cowboy to a strong win in the Country Cups Challenge qualifier at the Blackall course.
The new Country Cups Challenge, complete with a $70,000 metropolitan final on one of the summer racing carnival’s most popular days, George Moore Stakes Day on December 1, will bring together the winners of 16 Country Cups held across the state between September and November.
It complements the inaugural Battle of the Bush Series, which brought 16 sprinters from the country to the city on Sky Racing Tattersall’s Tiara Day in June.
Fab’s Cowboy was the top weight in the Battle of the Bush 1200m final where it drew poorly and finished back in the field.
The gelding won the Strathmore Blackall Cup on Saturday and helped Bevan Johnson to a quinella when stablemate, Blue Jest came in second.
It topped off a great day trackside for the Barcoo Amateur Race Club meet that highlights the region’s cattle studs and their produce, which the central west public responded to enthusiastically, just weeks after Blackall’s 150th anniversary celebrations.
Racing this weekend is in Isisford for the annual Ross Cup meeting.