New South Wales racing stewards have ruled out one of the favourites, four-year-old Kempsey mare Markievicz,from the $150,000 Mid North Coast Racing Association's Newhaven Park Country Championships heat at Manning Valley Race Club's big meeting at Taree on Sunday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The bombshell has rocked trainer Barry Ratcliff who was full of confidence of a win after his mare showed her prowess with a solid near last to first win in a $100,000 Highway in Sydney late last month.
"The news has certainly knocked the wind out of my sails," he said.
Stewards informed him that the $9900 buy from Sydney trainer Anthony Cummings didn't pass the eligibility criteria of being owned by him for 12 months which was a new requirement for this year's championships over 1400m at Royal Randwick.
"I fell short by about three weeks," he added.
It was the mare's third win in a row and he was trying to get Highway winning jockey Kieran McEvoy to ride her on Sunday with the option of being on her for the $500,000 final at Royal Randwick on April 2.
In last week's column Ratcliff was on top of the world in not only securing $51 about her in the Highway win but to also celebrate his 72nd birthday two days later.
McEvoy has taken the ride when Markievicz tries to win back-to-back Highway races over 1400m at Rosehill Gardens this Saturday.
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark our website
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter: @macleayargus
- Follow us on Instagram: @macleayargus
