Taree trainer Glen Milligan says his stable star That’s Molly is in great shape for her defence of the crown when she contests the $32,000 Glass 24/7 Wingham Cup over 1614 metres at her home track meeting on Sunday.
That’s Molly was ridden by Milligan’s then stable apprentice, Zac Wadick, when she fought hard to score the narrowest of wins in last year’s Wingham Cup.
This time she’ll be ridden by Milligan’s current apprentice, Teighan Worsnop, whose claim will bring the five-year-old’s weight down from the allotted 60 kilograms to 58.
Trainer Glen Milligan
That’s Molly’s recent form reads well for a race like the Wingham Cup.
She finished a with a brilliant late burst to come from well back on the home turn and win the Country Championships Northern Wild Card race over 1400 metres at Scone on March 22.
After finishing well back in the Country Championships Final over 1400 metres at Randwick on April 6 she was freshened up before running a solid fourth in the Gunnedah Cup over 1600 on May 6.
“I thought her run at Gunnedah was pretty good seeing she hadn’t gone around for six weeks,” Milligan said.
“She raced a bit fresh for her and probably just blew out a bit over the last 100 metres, so the improvement is there in her going into this race.
“Our stable is shooting for three straight wins in the Wingham Cup. Texas Storm won it two years ago when he was still in dad’s name before dad passed away and then That’s Molly won it last year.
“It’ll be a Heavy 10 surface at Taree, but that won’t bother her. She gets through the wet very well.
“Her style is to get back a bit and the rail at Taree will be out three metres, so the only worry for me is that the track will probably race very leaderish.
“She won’t want to get too far back but you can’t ride them outside their pattern because it brings them undone, so we’ll just have to try to find the right balance.”
Milligan has also accepted with That’s Molly for a race at Randwick on Saturday, but he said at this stage he was leaning towards running at Taree.
That’s Molly has raced 22 times for six wins. Four of those wins have come at Taree, over 1300 metres, 1400 (twice) and the 1614 of the Wingham Cup.
And each of her Taree wins came on a wet track – one on a Soft 5, another on a Soft 7 and two on a Heavy 8.
“Yeah, she definitely loves racing at Taree,” Milligan said. “It’s always beneficial for the horses when you don’t have to travel and you can just walk them across from the stable to the track.
“It’s been difficult for all of the trainers around here over the last few months with all of the rain and washed-out meetings.
“It makes it that much harder to find the right races for your horses.
“I’ve been looking for the right race for That’s Molly and I had this one in mind all along. It looks good for her and I think she’ll be very hard to beat.”
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– Racing NSW
