Two trainers with horses at different stages, with different expectations, and targeting different Country Championships heats.
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Gayna Williams and Rodney Robb may not have had a whole heap in common at Dubbo Turf Club on Sunday but the only thing that mattered was they both won.
In Healing Hands, Mudgee-based Williams has one of the outstanding horses to contest this year's series and the gelding showed his promise in the build-up to the Central Districts qualifier when taking out Sunday's Country Championship Preview (1310m) at Dubbo.
Nyngan's Robb saw Festival Of Light take out the Summer Sunday Benchmark 66 Handicap (1110m) and it was a needed win ahead of what shapes as an extremely competitive Western Racing Association heat at Coonamble next month.
"He went very well," Robb said of the first-up Festival Of Light to Sky Thoroughbred Central.
"He's a nice horse and has always been an up-and-coming type.
"We'll just have to see what happens from now on and we've got about a month before Coonamble. If he gets over a bit more ground I think he'll be right."
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Sunday marked Festival Of Light's first start since August of last year, when he contested a Highway event at Randwick.
Healing Hands, too, has only recently returned from a spell after a Highway race last year.
Williams' five-year-old was all the rage at Randwick in July of last year but following a disappointing run the trainer reported to stewards Healing Hands had bled from the nostrils.
A lengthy spell followed but things have been right on track since his return with a win at Bathurst followed by Sunday's tough Dubbo win, one which took his record to four wins from six starts.
A leading contender for the Mudgee heat. Healing Hands is also currently is a $26 hope for April's $500,000 Country Championships Final at Randwick.
But Williams isn't getting too carried away, stating she was cautiously optimistic.
"He's very green and still learning," Williams said.
"So far, so good. We'll try and keep him in one piece until March 1.
"It was different for him today. It was a harder race than Bathurst, last start, which was a concern for me and I'd wonder how he handled it and he handled it well."
Nick Guthrie
I started working at the Daily Liberal in 2013 and now hold the position of senior journalist. I cover all that's happening in sport in Dubbo and the wider western area and have a passion for doing so. If you've got a story that needs telling, reach out.
I started working at the Daily Liberal in 2013 and now hold the position of senior journalist. I cover all that's happening in sport in Dubbo and the wider western area and have a passion for doing so. If you've got a story that needs telling, reach out.
