3 minute read
Tamworth’s Morgan brothers - with an eye for a bargain and a knack with discards - are primed for a productive day at Thursday’s capacity eight-race Quirindi TAB meeting.
Pure horseman as champion rodeo riders, pre-trainers and jockeys, elder Cody and Luke produced first-up winners respectively in Ostracised from the Melbourne stables of Team Hawkes, and Lady Mofeed from the Cranbourne yard of Busuttin and Young.
And they make the next progression on Thursday. Moved on as maidens they broke through impressively for the brothers.
The Morgans have separate training licenses but work in unison from adjacent properties in their hometown.
Cody primed Ostracised off a let-up to win a Dubbo maiden at $1.75 off a barrier trial win, and Luke broke through with Lady Mofeed at Armidale, just as convincingly from a wide barrier, also well backed.
They were hardly hopeless when moved on, five Victorian provincial placings between them, but not the required grade for the profile stables.
The Morgans immediately found their niche.
Ostracised contests the Railway Hotel and Friendly Grocer BM 58, (1000m) for Aaron Bullock and Lady Mofeed the Café on Single Class 1 (1200m) with 2.5kg claimer Jackson Searle.
Both are handily drawn: "It's a big result when you research them off the tried sales and get a return straight away," Luke enthused.
"It's always tough from a maiden to the next grade but off what they're showing you'd think there's better races.
"And 100 percent, the maiden form from Victorian provincials always holds up when they come here. The bigger stables race there.
"Lady Mofeed is on the light side, not much of her that's why we've claimed. From the extreme outside it was a really tough win, she's drawn in and progressed like she can take the next step."
Luke trains limited numbers compared to his brother.
"We help each other out, but I'm essentially a breaker, pre-trainer around 30 mostly for Gerry Harvey. So I can only train a few of my own.
"Cody's got the numbers, nice types and winning plenty of races." Cody sure is with an 18% winning strike rate the past 12 months.
"I ride work, but Cody doesn't any more since his accident, he's strictly on the ground now with trackwork riders. He's got nice chances all day."
Cody will be also hard to beat with C'mon and Love Me (race 4), a dominant Armidale winner at short odds in May and Cut 'Em' Up in a third race maiden off successive placings and a recent Scone barrier trial win.
