By Ray Hickson
In-form country sprinter Who Goes There has never won beyond 1000m but trainer Mark Mason says if he completes a hat-trick at Moree on Sunday he could entertain pushing for a Kosciuszko berth.
And while ticket sales close with TAB at 11.59pm on September 8 he might not need to go on a promotional campaign to get his horse picked.
The gelding is part-owned by Scott Williams, publican at the Tattersall’s Hotel in Inverell. His syndicate has won a slot in the past two years and was the winning slot holder from the 2024 Kosciuszko having selected Far Too Easy.
Mason said he’s confident the six-year-old is not just a short courser but he’ll get the chance to prove that after the $35,000 Boland Petroleum Moree Town Plate (950m).
“It’s the right timing to see if he could get into The Kosciuszko,’’ Mason said.
“He’s got a bit of speed but I think he will run 1100m and 1200m no worries. He’d have to have this run and have a go at a 1200m race somewhere to see if he’d be competitive.
“The way he gets to the line, he’s not one of those fast horses that jumps out and goes hard and at the end they’re running them down.
Who Goes There wins at Tamworth on July 18
“When he jumps out and leads at the end of it he’s pulling away.
“Scott’s group buy a heap of tickets every year, they picked the winner last year. They’ve been drawn out the last two years, I suppose the year you want them to win it won’t happen.”
Mason and Williams have been patient with the son of Exosphere and he’d only had four starts going into the start of his five-year-old season.
He said it was a simple case of the horse being immature and not ready to race as a youngster but with six wins from 12 starts he’s making up for lost time.
“We bred him so me and Scott can do what we like,’’ he said.
“We had a little bit of trouble with him early on, Grant (Buckley) said he wanted to go a bit hard but after last preparation he’s settled down a bit and he’s not wanting to charge like he was."
Who Goes There hasn’t raced since he put successive all the way wins together over 1000m at Tamworth on July 4 and 18 but it’s not by design.
The plan was to take him to Sydney to run in a midweek race but Mason said the prospect of running him on heavy 10 tracks, which were prevailing at the time, didn’t appeal so he’s had to keep the horse ticking over.
He’s led in five of his six wins but the trainer is wary of a horse like Bomarea, who has drawn the rails, wanting to lead and won’t be getting into any speed battle.
“The horse of Marc Quinn’s goes pretty quick,’’ Mason said.
“He doesn’t have to lead, he’s sat off them before. If they wanted to go silly we’d sit off, if he found the lead under his own steam then well and good.”