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By Greg Prichard

Wily veteran Peter Graham will approach the task with confidence when he steps Born Conqueror up in distance in the Tom Ellis Class 1 And Maiden Plate at the Taree race meeting on Monday.

Graham not only trains Born Conqueror, but will take advantage of his dual licence to ride the horse as well.

Born Conqueror (Peter Graham) lands the prize at Taree. Image by Trackside Photography

The four-year-old gelding has raced over distances ranging from 1000 to 1614m in his nine-start career and his best performance came over the 1614m when he won a Maiden event at Taree two starts back, on April 28.

That was on a surface rated a Heavy 10 as well, which is handy because despite improving weather this week Taree is still likely to be in the heavy range on Monday - it was rated a Heavy 10 on Friday morning.

Born Conqueror is going up to 1900m in Monday’s race and Graham firmly believes that will suit him.

“I was heading towards this sort of distance with him after he won at Taree, but with all of the washed-out meetings recently I wasn’t getting the opportunity,” he said.

“So I brought him back in distance for his most recent run just to get him out there and get another run into him.”

That was in a Class 1 race over 1420m at Grafton on May 16 and despite dropping back in distance Born Conqueror was still competitive, finishing fourth.

“He ran a good race and I’m looking forward to getting him up to the 1900 metres now,” Graham said.

“I’m not worried about going from the 1400 to the 1900 because he’d won well over the mile before that and he was always heading that way when I found a race that suited him and it wasn’t washed out.

“He’s got four runs behind him in this campaign now, so he’s very fit, and he must like Taree because the best two runs of his career have been over the mile there, for a win and a second.

“He’s a bit one-paced, but that won’t hurt him on a heavy track. He obviously likes those conditions, so he’ll keep going on it and at the same time a few others probably won’t handle it as well as he will. It’s a good race for him and he should run well.”

Graham doesn’t always ride his own horses, but he has been on-board Born Conqueror in eight of his nine starts. He has only a small stable of horses at Port Macquarie, but still loves his work.

Graham has only had 11 starters so far this calendar year, but has still managed to come up with two winners. His other one was In A Step at Newcastle on January 11.

“I’ve just got four in the stable at the moment, but that keeps me busy enough,” he said. “It keeps me in the game and when the money is good I still like to ride them as well.”

*NOTE: Gates open at 10.30am. First race 11.35am. Admission $10 and $5 concession. Full bar, bistro, TAB and bookmaker facilities. Visit Facebook page Manning Valley Race Club for more information.

View the final fields with full form & race replays for Taree here