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Cody Morgan – Fourth Crack At Country Championships Final
By John Curtis
CODY Morgan doesn’t play favorites – and will be thrilled if either of his representatives, Edit and Anethole, wins Saturday’s Newhaven Park Country Championships Final at Royal Randwick.
But it’s understandable there will be an extra special buzz if the former lands the $500,000 feature on the opening day of The Championships.
Morgan and Newcastle jockey Aaron Bullock, who will ride Edit, go back a long way.
“We’re great mates,” Morgan said. “Aaron rode my first winner when I started training back in 2008.
“He rode my debut starter Course when she was narrowly beaten at Coonamble in October that year, and then won on her at Armidale the following month.
“She was my second runner and scored easily as an odds-on favorite.
“Aaron was a 2kg claimer then, and I’m delighted 14 years later to have him on Edit in the final.”
Morgan stuck solid with both Bullock and leading Sydney apprentice Tom Sherry (Anethole), who rode the pair in their respective qualifying races.
“Tom is also a good friend and rode Anethole in a few Highways in Sydney,” he said.
“He was prepared to come to Tamworth on a Sunday (March 6) when he won the Hunter & North West Qualifier on him,” he said.
“And Aaron rode Edit in both his lead-up trials and when he ran second in the Wild Card at Scone.
“They both deserve to stay on them in the final.
“I’m fortunate to have two really good chances going into such a big race.
“Edit hasn’t had the perfect preparation, but the Wild Card run has really brought him on. He looks so much better and is a very good horse.
“Anethole has surprised me a bit. He was down the track at his first two runs for me, but has continued to improve.”
Both Edit and Anethole are raced by Australian Bloodstock syndicates – and thereby hangs a tale!
It has been a fruitful association which came out of the blue, but could have folded before it even began.
Morgan recalls that Australian Bloodstock principal Luke Murrell had a horse going to Moree, and wanted the Tamworth-based trainer to take him.
“I had never met Luke, and had to say ‘no’ as I had a few horses at my parents’ property at the time and didn’t have a spare stable,” he said.
“I was dirty on myself afterwards for turning him down, but thankfully he rang back 12 months later with an offer and I was in a much better position with stabling accommodation.
“Not only do I now have a fantastic connection with Australian Bloodstock, but Luke continues to be a great mentor.
“He changed my mentality about communicating better with all my owners and placing our horses in the right races.”
Morgan’s rise to prominence as a leading light in country training ranks can be gauged from the fact that 80 per cent of his clients come from Newcastle, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide.
Tamworth trainer Cody Morgan Photo: The Northern Daily Leader
He has 50 stables on course at Tamworth Jockey Club, along with the opportunity to give his horses a freshen when required at the 25-acre property he and his fiancée Lucy Goodsell own on New Winton Road, about eight minutes from the track.
Not that Morgan was aware of it then, but perhaps there was an omen when he backed Australian Bloodstock’s Protectionist in the German stayer’s 2014 Melbourne Cup romp.
The 36-year-old was born on Melbourne Cup day in 1985 when What A Nuisance won the first $1m “race that stops a nation”.
Coming from a family possessing outstanding horse skills, it isn’t surprising that Morgan long held an ambition to train.
His father Glenn won about 20 national saddle bronc riding titles, mother Mary was a champion rodeo rider, and younger brother Luke won two national titles and a world saddle bronc championship in 2015.
Whilst Morgan says he tried his hand at it as well and “wasn’t much good”, he quickly showed his ability when he took to riding in races.
He left school early in year 9 with the approval of his parents to take on an apprenticeship with Tim and Craig Martin at Tamworth – strictly on the stipulation that he would be going back if it didn’t work out.
There was never a chance of that! Morgan rode a winner for the Martins at his first ride (Tonosama at Quirindi on June 25, 2001), and in a relatively short career, tallied nearly 150 successes.
That included a 12 months’ stint (at the recommendation of then H&NWRA chief steward Shane Cullen) with Tony McEvoy at Lindsay Park in the Adelaide hills.
He rode 52 winners, including 20 in the city, in that time and recalls riding Fields Of Omagh work in his final gallop at Lindsay Park prior to the first of his two Cox Plate triumphs in 2003.
“He was beaten by a Class 1 horse,” he said.
As Morgan zeroes in on a career 200 wins as a trainer, he has learnt to measure his success not simply by his winners each season, but more so with the prizemoney won by his horses.
“That’s what counts as it goes into the owners’ pockets,” he said. “We earned just over $1.2m last season and we’re already close to $1m so far this season.”
A $287,000 first prize in the Country Championships Final would certainly ensure Morgan’s most successful season, irrespective of how many winners he trains.
He has no plans to abandon his country base to try out in the bright lights of Sydney.
“Tamworth is home, and in any case Peter V’Landys has totally changed the structure of NSW country racing,” he said.
“It’s remarkable to think we now have races in Sydney to aim for such as the Country Championships, The Kosciuszko and The Big Dance, let alone the regular Highways nearly every Saturday.”
This will be Morgan’s fourth crack at winning the Country Championships Final.
He ran eighth with Ligulate in 2020, sixth with Unbiased in 2019, and sadly his 2017 representative Pelerin was severely injured during the running, and had to be put down.
Morgan rated his win with stable stalwart Unbiased (now retired to a life of leisure at a friend’s place) in his home area heat in 2019 as his greatest training achievement to date.
He had put him away not quite 12 months earlier after winning the Gunnedah Cup, purposely not racing him otherwise he would have been ineligible for the Tamworth race, and gave him four trials to have him ready after such a lengthy spell.
Pelerin, a $6000 purchase at a Darley dispersal sale, had won the Scone Wild Card from the outside barrier (14).
“He had issues and Dad and I put a lot of work in to qualify him for the final,” Morgan said. “We were so excited going to Randwick, and then for him to be galloped on and severed a tendon was devastating.
“It’s the worst day I have ever had on a racecourse. I’ll never forget towing an empty float home, but you have to move on.”
Morgan will take Edit and Anethole to Sydney on Friday, and win, lose or draw, won’t return home until Sunday.
“For a country trainer, it’s a celebration to get these two horses to such a rich final,” he said.
“Importantly, it’s also a great opportunity to socialise with our owners, so we’ll be staying Saturday night.”
A Final victory with either horse would undoubtedly be the pinnacle of his training career so far – and for Cody Morgan’s sake at least, let’s hope the result and subsequent trip home will provide much happier memories to last a lifetime.
