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By Ray Hickson

Trainer Stirling Osland says he’s not prepared to make the trip from Armidale to run in a TAB Highway just for the scenic drive so it’s significant that Concoction is headed for Randwick on Saturday.

Trainer Stirling Osland (Pic: Bradley Photos)

The last two horses he’s sent to Sydney, So You Are and Calico Miss, have been more than competitive and that’s his expectation as Concoction chases a hat-trick in the TAB Highway (1400m).

The four-year-old, $9 with TAB on Thursday, showed early promise winning two barrier trials around a year ago for Ed O’Rourke and based on what he’s seen Osland says he’s picked up a nice horse.

“I think he could have been three from three,’’ he said.

“He should have won at Coffs Harbour (on debut), the only reason he didn’t was just greenness.

“He went past the leader on the bit, then looked around and waited and let it have the chance to come back at him.

“He’s a fast horse, he’s a four-year-old so he’s not a young horse. They’ve given him plenty of time and done a lot of pre work on him early on in life and we’re reaping the rewards of it.”

That said, Osland realises winning a Highway at a first attempt isn’t easy though his promising mare Calico Miss did it back in June.

“We don’t bring them down unless we think we can get a cheque. We’ve got a rough idea how our horses need to be going to be willing to have a crack,” he said.

After that debut second, Concoction went to Gunnedah and ran away with a maiden win.

His next start could easily have been at Grafton but jockey Ben Looker, who will follow the horse to Randwick to ride, convinced him to stay home and he got the job done at Armidale a few weeks ago.

It wasn’t an easy watch for Osland though.

“I wanted to go to Grafton two days later and Ben rang me the night before and said he should just win (at Armidale),’’ he said.

“At about the 400m mark I was cursing him because he had his head sideways and nowhere to go on the back of horses. Armidale is a tricky track to come off the back of horses and pick them up.

“It was a good win, a tough way to do it, but it was nice to see him settle further back in a field and not reef and tear. Relax a bit better.

“I thought he picked them up reasonably easy too.”

Concoction drops 5kg on that win and jumps from the inside gate, the same alley Calico Miss won her Highway on.

That mare is preparing to return and Osland will consider whether she’s a Country Championships prospect once she resumes racing. Concoction, because he came to Osland mid-year, isn’t eligible.

Concoction wins at Armidale on October 14

“She’s back in work and we’ll see how she comes up. It’s definitely one of the options we have for her,’’ he said.

“She could probably go first-up in a Highway this prep, she’s a Class 3 horse so we’ve got a bit of wiggle room with her.”

All the fields, form and replays for Saturday’s Golden Eagle meeting at Randwick