Coffs Harbour preview: Wet conditions and home track advantage can help Ostracised in his Cup bid
Apart from its prestige and a whopping $150,000 purse, the added incentive of Big Dance Eligibility has drawn together a first class field of New South Wales, Queensland and Canberra housed gallopers.
So deep is this year's Coffs Harbour Cup (1600m) that Ostracised went up as a $51 shot.
A mission which his part owner and trainer Donna Grisedale acknowledges is a difficult one but not impossible.
'I wouldn't put him in it if I didn't think he would run a decent race,' Grisedale said.
'Home track, wet track, good barrier, he has got a few things in his favour but there are some outstanding city-class horses in the race.
Ostracised claims the Maclean Cup! � pic.twitter.com/lPJa926GOk
â€' SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) July 20, 2025
The Form: Complete NSW Racing thoroughbred form, including video replays and all you need to know about every horse, jockey and trainer. Find a winner here!
'He has gone up 19 points in two runs so I have kind of been forced into these sort of situations with him.'
One of those benchmark accruing performances came as a result of Ostracised's emphatic on-pace win in the Maclean Cup (1425m).
What made the gelding's victory all the more important; the outcome - and the manner of it - was inspiration enough for a tilt at the Cup.
That said, Ostracised running a mile is not something anyone would have expected, least of all Grisedale herself.
'We only had him down as a 1000m, 1100m horse completely and then everything just sort of changed because he was just getting run off his legs,' she said.
'So we just stepped him up 1100m to 1200m and it has just gone from there.
'He was strong through the line (in the Maclean Cup) so 1600m is certainly worth a try.
'Six is a good barrier for him, he should be up there on the speed for sure.'
Grisedale will also have a runner in the co-feature Daniel Baker Showcase Sprint (1200m), namely Bow.
Ostracised wins the Woolgoolga Diggers Cup! � @mallyon_andrew pic.twitter.com/AfkJCoYgnv
â€' SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) June 20, 2025
A son of Black Caviar's sire, Bel Esprit, Bow will require a further upgrade in the track it seems to have any chance of capturing the time-honoured annual event.
'He hasn't drawn too bad and again the home track is always good for him,' Grisedale said.
'It is a suitable race for him, it's just that it is going to be wet.'
The Coffs Harbour Cup Day meeting coincides with the start of the new season.
Grisedale is rightfully looking forward to what the stable's raw but talented now four-year-old Piedi Veloci can deliver in the Rob Young Country Boosted Showcase Maiden Plate (1400m) and throughout 2025/26 up to an including even the Country Championships.
'He is going to go out after Friday's run and I dare say he will come back a more furnished horse and certainly a lot more switched on and hopefully not doing so many things wrong,' says Grisedale.
'He just needs to mature.
'He'd have to win a couple of races and he is certainly capable of doing that so if he can come back and put one or two wins together (the Country Championships) would be ideal for him.'
â– â– â– â– â–
The weather, the weight and the lure of a crack at a $3 million race on the first Tuesday in November are the three reasons why It's A Knockout will be at Coffs Harbour and not at Rosehill this weekend.
The Ciaron Maher -trained It's A Knockout is a red-hot favourite for both her city and country (proposed) missions off the back of a booming first-up win at Royal Randwick followed by her honourable third there at her subsequent start.
While the daughter of Triple Crown winner Dundeel will have a 1000km round trip on the first day of the new season, it could pay off in spades both in the immediacy and later in the year, November 4 to be exact.
'It's a business decision,' said Dean Watt, the founder of Dynamic Syndications, who bought the stakes-placed mare at the Gold Coast for $150,000 as a yearling.
'First of all, we have got one eye on the weather but that's not the be all and end all however, whether Rosehill gets all-the-way through on Saturday is a question mark.
It's A Knockout KO's them first up at Randwick! 🥊 @cmaherracing @NockBraith @aus_turf_club pic.twitter.com/Vz1UhglXXq
â€' SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) June 21, 2025
'And Coffs (Harbour) at this stage has only had a sprinkle of rain that Sydney has had so you know the races are going to go on up there.'
Watt, who has won a Golden Slipper and a Blue Diamond (among other features), was also keen to shield It's A Knockout from any potential huge rise in her benchmark rating should she have won in Sydney on the weekend.
'The Coffs Harbour Cup is Big Dance eligible and if you don't win it but you run second, you're Little Dance eligible,' he added.
'And there is only six grands worth of difference (between Rosehill and Coffs Harbour).
'Her benchmark is still going to go up but the horse becomes eligible to run in a $3 million or $1 million race.'
The 2024/25 season concludes the 20th season that the ubiquitous Dynamic Syndications silks have been worn (including in this year's Everest).
Watt's clients shared in 61 winners for the season, 20 of them city winners, taking his firm's overall tally close to 1000.
In that time, Dynamic horses have returned a 90 per cent winners to runners while a phenomenal 98.1 per cent of the string earned prizemoney.
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