Collings Pair Ready For Kosciuszko Assault

Goulburn trainer Scott Collings is preparing for one of the defining days of his career with stablemates Cruizingthestars and Ticklebelly set to represent his yard in the $2 million The Kosciuszko at Randwick on October 17, an achievement made all the more significant by the contrasting paths the two mares have taken to secure their places in the country racing showpiece. Ticklebelly was already safely in the field after being selected by slot-holder Andrew Murdoch, but Cruizingthestars forced her way into calculations with a brilliant first-up victory in a Class 3 Highway over 1000m at Randwick last month, taking her record to four wins from only five starts and confirming the considerable opinion Collings has held of the daughter of Starspangledbanner from the outset. According to punters.com.au, Collings is now effectively at base camp with 11 days remaining before the pair tackle The Kosciuszko, with the Goulburn horseman able to prepare both from familiar surroundings rather than chase further race fitness unnecessarily. Cruizingthestars has emerged remarkably quickly, winning her first three starts at Goulburn and Canberra earlier this year before finishing fourth at Randwick at the end of her initial preparation, then returning from a 21-week break to defeat a strong Highway field under Jason Collett. Her pedigree is equally appealing: she is by Starspangledbanner from High Chaparral mare Calaway Cruizer, whose dam Calaway Gal won the 2002 Gr1 Golden Slipper, and Collings believes the mare’s relaxed racing style and ability to finish strongly will be ideally suited by the 1200m of The Kosciuszko. Ticklebelly brings a very different profile, having already compiled seven wins and substantial metropolitan and country experience, including a Randwick Highway, the Snake Gully Cup and the Country Championships Southern Wild Card, while she also finished fifth in last year’s Country Championships Final. Collett is committed to Ticklebelly, leaving Cruizingthestars to be partnered separately when the stable launches its two-pronged challenge. The opportunity represents a significant reward for Collings, who operates from Goulburn and a nearby Middle Arm property and endured several months out of the saddle earlier this year after fracturing vertebrae in a trackwork fall. Now back riding work and overseeing a stable enjoying one of its strongest periods, Collings heads towards Randwick with an established campaigner and an emerging mare whose ceiling remains difficult to define, giving the small country operation two genuine chances in one of NSW racing’s richest events.