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By Ray Hickson

There’s no doubt Gallant Star looms large over Sunday’s $150,000 Evergreen Turf WRA Country Championships (1400m) at Coonamble but trainer Brett Robb says he can’t afford to take the race for granted.

Trainer Brett Robb (Pic: Bradley Photos)

The smart five-year-old is set to start the shortest priced favourite in a Country Championships race, he opened $1.33 with TAB, and Robb has put the work into him to ensure he’s fit enough to get the job done and have something up the sleeve for Randwick.

While he’s widely expected to win, if Gallant Star doesn’t finish top two he’ll need to back up in the Northern Wild Card five days later in order to qualify.

But Robb is confident, particularly after drawing gate four on Sunday, the gelding can go one better than last year at both Coonamble and Randwick suggesting he’s come of age in the past 12 months.

“Everything has been as good as I can get it. I don’t want to speak too early but everything so far has been great,’’ Robb said.

“He’s a lot better than when we went to Sydney last year. He gives me a feel that he’s even better than when he went to the Barn Dance.

“I’ve been nervous about the barrier draw, it’s a big relief.”

There was no better example of Gallant Star’s progress than in his runaway win in the Barn Dance at Randwick back in November.

It was an explosive win and while Robb could have taken the horse anywhere after that he wanted to give Gallant Star his chance to claim the Country Championships title that eluded him in 2024.

He’s won two trials on his home track, over 860m on February 3 and 1000m 13 days later, then ventured to Scone on February 26 and won over 1200m and Jason Collett is making the trip to Coonamble to take the ride.

“If he wins at Coonamble it’s $76,000 to the winner and go down and compete for $540,000 for the winner,’’ he said.

“It’s a set weights race and he should be carrying 63 or 64kg or even more and he gets in with 59kg, I just thought it was a no brainer.

“People keep saying to me he’ll be hard to beat in town but we’ve got to get through Coonamble first.

“I’d be confident in Sydney because he likes Randwick. But Coonamble is a funny track, it can be a leader dominated track even though it has a long straight.

“He can get back in his runs and if you get stuck wide it’s not a track with a heap of camber and if you’re wide you’re in a lot of trouble. That’s what happened to him last year.”

It's easy to forget Gallant Star was beaten at Coonamble, running second to Elson Boy, a year ago.

Robb, who is already a Country Championships Final winning trainer through Sizzle Minizzle’s surprise 2023 win, has Deion, Rouge Moulin and Poisen Point also trying their luck at Coonamble for a spot in the Final.

Deion started his career with a flurry but raced below his best for most of 2024 before showing some improvement in his last start third at Dubbo a month ago.

“He’s been a little bit disappointing,’’ Robb said.

“We thought we’d keep him nice and fresh for the Championships and hopefully that works. He’s going to win his fair share of races out here but he’s no Gallant Star.

“If he was right, on his day, I think he’d match the rest of them in the race.”

Rouge Moulin was placed in a Benchmark 58 at the corresponding meeting last year and has won his way into the Championships with two wins from his past three starts.

Robb said a wide gate isn’t ideal for him but form around one of his other major rivals tells him the lightly raced gelding isn’t out of place.

“I think he’s a couple of lengths better this time,’’ he said.

“If you have a look at his form last time in, I thought Plenitude was the one to beat other than Gallant Star and he beat Plenitude at Coonamble one day.

United Kingdom’s trial at Rosehill on March 6

“Going back to that form you’d think he can be hard to beat but he will need a bit of luck.”

And Poisen Point, to be ridden by Zac Lloyd, has the quality to be a factor in the finish if she gets a race run to suit as she comes back from a close second over 1600m at Orange a couple of weeks ago.

“She’s racing well, she’s a horse that needs a mile but she’s a mare in form so we thought we’d have a crack. She could very well come out and run second in the race,’’ he said.

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