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By Ray Hickson

Muswellbrook trainer Todd Howlett is taking the view that you shouldn’t be scared of one horse going into the $150,000 Evergreen Turf Hunter & North West Country Championships and that his honest mare Christa is capable of progressing beyond Sunday’s race.

The shadow of Kosciuszko winner Clear Thinking, dominant $2.50 favourite to win the Final, hovers over the regional qualifier which is being run for the first time at Muswellbrook over 1280m.

Howlett said after galloping Christa on her home track on Tuesday morning he’s elected to make a gear change aimed at helping her stay sharp for her toughest test.

“I worked her in a set of winkers, I’ve never had anything on her so I’ll put them on and it might sharpen her up a bit,’’ he said.

Trainer Todd Howlett (Pic: Bradley Photos).

“I’m really happy with her and she worked well, she probably is looking for a bit further but she’s fresh so the 1280m suits.”

Christa has had a couple of lengthy breaks in her career but she was able to sustain a long preparation, off a 12 month break, with six runs from the mid-winter to early spring.

That campaign kicked off with a win over 1412m at Taree and she was placed at her next five starts including three TAB Highways.

With two trials under her belt, Howlett said it’s important she draws well as he feels she’ll need some favours in the run in order to qualify for the $1 million Final next month.

And that’s let alone entertaining any thoughts of upsetting Clear Thinking - but second is good enough to send her to Randwick.

“It’s definitely a strong heat,’’ he said.

“You never know what will happen, I know we need a lot of luck and (Clear Thinking) might need bad luck because she’s a very good horse.

“In a few races last time she didn’t have a lot of luck, a few things didn’t go her way, but she still ran well.”

Jean Van Overmeire has been booked to ride Christa and Howlett said if the six-year-old mare runs well and doesn’t qualify she’ll progress to the Northern Wild Card at Scone on March 20.

Muswellbrook was the host of the Wild Card through to 2021 and Howlett’s warhorse Two Big Fari won that race in 2020 before finishing fifth in the Final behind Gracie Belle that year.

Stablemate Athena’s Treasure is not likely to make the field for the Country Championships so Howlett will run her in the Royal Hotel Muswellbrook Handicap (1450m).

She’s a four-year-old with three wins from seven starts and comes off a second at Newcastle a few weeks ago.

“She’s an honest mare and I think she will be very competitive in that race, she’s going very well,’’ he said.

All the fields, form and replays for Sunday's Country Championships meeting at Muswellbrook