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Only a centimetre cost Uncle Gerry success in last year’s Queanbeyan Cup and 12 months on the flashy chestnut has the opportunity for redemption.
Uncle Gerry is one of the fancied runners in Sunday’s $35,000 BBC Building Queanbeyan Cup (2000m) where he opposes a far superior field to last year.
Trained at Queanbeyan by Joe Cleary, Uncle Gerry ran second in both the Cup prelude and Cup in 2016 and ironically was narrowly beaten when second behind D’beak in the prelude a couple of weeks ago.Three seconds in three feature races at his home track has Cleary hoping it’s his turn to win the race that means a lot to him.
He will start a large team of horses on Sunday including the talented Lucy Rose in The Thunderbolt (1000m) and also Rosaruby in the Cup.Cleary is optimistic without being too confident about his chances.
“Uncle Gerry has been right there a few times at Queanbeyan and hopefully he can get a good run from a bit of a wide gate,” he said.“Lucy Rose is a really nice filly and is first-up against the older horses but he is going really well in training.”
D’beak managed to just wear down Uncle Gerry in the Prelude and has also drawn out, but will try and take up a forward spot according to trainer Paul Jones.Ironically, jockey Simon Miller rode Uncle Gerry in both of his Queanbeyan seconds last year and has been aboard D’beak in recent starts so he has a good understanding of both horses.
“I’m really happy with D’beak, but he is weighted up to his upper limit on 58.5 kilograms,” Jones said.“D’beak meets Uncle Gerry worse at the weights and we only just got him last time they met.
“They were first and second in the run that day and I expect they will both be up there again.”Front spot will be hotly contested with Welcome Art a noted leader who has an inside draw over D’beak and Uncle Gerry.
Stable mates Ariko Gold and Mrs Willy Nilly will represent trainer Richard Clarke while Zarina’s Gold and Bond Of Faith are trained on the track and have recent wins to their credit is restricted company.Meanwhile, Chattachang will take a 100 per cent winning record into The Thunderbolt.
Chattachang won last year’s edition and has won four times at his home track.He is drawn perfectly in barrier with one of his main dangers, Highway Handicap winner, Wanna Get A What, in gate two at the start.
Lucy Rose is an immense talent and despite drawing wide is expected to push for favouritism in the feature sprint.