A DIVERSE group of owners are hoping Jenny Graham's sense of timing with Sixty Paces is spot on when the three-year-old filly lines up in the $100,000 MNCRA Country Championship Qualifier (1200m) at Port Macquarie on March 6.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Championship Qualifier has been on the agenda for several months and according to Graham "so far so good."
"She pulled up really well after her last win, come through it nicely," Graham said.
"We're trying to come into the race as best we can and she's stepped up to the mark every time I asked her.
Nicknamed 'Lacy' - "because she's so pretty" Graham suggested - Sixty Paces is raced by a syndicate headed by her partner Shane Conroy.
"The filly's breeder Verna Metcalfe stayed in her and the other owners come from all over the place - Port Macquarie, Brisbane, Scone and the Central Coast," Graham said.
Sixty Paces cost $12,000 as a yearling at the Scone sales.
The daughter of Rock Of Gibraltar has recorded four wins and two second's from eight starts.
After winning trials on her home track at Port Macquarie and Taree, Sixty Paces resumed to score an authorative 1.5 length win in a 1000m Benchmark 60 handicap at Port Macquarie on February 13 ridden by Graham's apprentice daughter, Melinda Graham.
Sixty Paces has never been tried over 1200m.
"I think she can run 1200 metres," Graham said. "If she settles nicely she should get it.
"She always showed us something on the track but she's just got better with maturity.
"To be honest I don't know about the 1400 metres of the Championship Final if she qualifies. We'll just take it one step at a time."
The $300,000 Country Championship Final (1400m) is staged at Royal Randwick on April 4.
