Jockey Paul Hamblin with options and decisions ahead of Country Stampede Final

By Jordan Gerrans

Heavyweight hoop Paul Hamblin is a jockey with options ahead of the Country Stampede Final later this year.

The 55-year-old has qualified two gallopers in recent weeks, Emerald sprinter Ahwahneechee at Barcaldine on Saturday and Hard Stride at Gladstone in late September, on top of winning the 2020 edition of the Final with Hard Stride.

The experienced rider may just have a third option come this Saturday afternoon with the Tony and Maddysen Sears-trained Piracy set to be a big chance in the upcoming Chinchilla qualifier.

Ahwahneechee’s trainer Raymond Williams has offered the veteran pilot the ride for the Final in Brisbane later this year with Hamblin to make a call in the coming weeks.

“It is a bit of a hard situation, naturally you need to stick with the one that I won on in the Final last year because they have been good to me,” he said.

“We will just wait a couple of weeks before making a final call on it as things can change in racing pretty  quickly as we all know.

“At this stage I will ride Hard Stride if everything goes to plan.

“It is tough because you don’t want to choose between two good rides.”

As the reigning champion, 11-year-old marvel Hard Stride comes into the 2021 Final full of confidence, winning at Gladstone in September before running second at Gympie late last month for Toowoomba trainer Jason Judge.

Emerald sprinter Ahwahneechee will return to Brisbane for the first time since he went down in the 2021 Battle of the Bush Final to eventual champion Rather Salubrious.

The Raymond Williams-trained Ahwahneechee was favoured in the market for the BOTB crown earlier this year before finishing just under a length behind eventual winner Rather Salubrious.

On Saturday afternoon at separate tracks around the Sunshine State, the two leading bush gallopers booked their positions for the Country Stampede and Country Cups Challenge Final respectively, Ahwahneechee doing so at Barcaldine and David Reynolds’ mare at Yeppoon.

The pair have both been kept fresh since the BOTB Final and will now progress through to George Moore Stakes Day at Doomben in early December.

Carrying 64kgs around Barcaldine, Williams’ gelding was too classy for the Open Handicap field over 1000 metres, getting home by a length with hoop Hamblin in the saddle.

“To get the chance to go to town and play with the big boys of racing, we do not get opportunities like that every day around our country area,” Williams said earlier this year about concepts like the BOTB and the Country Stampede.

The Williams barn were represented in the Stampede Final last year as well, qualifying Hayyler’s Tary, who finished back in the field.

The seven-year-old gelding, Ahwahneechee, is unbeaten since the BOTB Final.

“I was able to sit outside the leader and everything worked out – it does not always work out that easy,” the Sunshine Coast-based Hamblin said of the Barcaldine victory. 

“He was strong through the line with that weight, he is not a big horse but he has been handling the weights, he won the start before with 64kgs as well.

“He only got beaten just under a length in the other Final in June, so I think he will be hard to beat in this one.

“Raymond has the horse spot on at the moment, he gets them right.”

Also carrying a big weight, Dalby mare Rather Salubrious made the trip to Yeppoon worth it, booking her spot in the Country Cups Challenge Final with in-form apprentice hoop Wendy Peel.

In the third Stampede qualifier over the weekend, the Bowen-based stable of Andrew Cameron claimed the Home Hill qualifier with El Shaday bolting in by three lengths.

Ridden by Carl Spry, the gelding registered career victory number 11 in a dominant fashion, sitting behind the leaders for much of the 1000 metre trip before bursting away in the closing stages.

Another Stampede qualifier will be run at Bundaberg on Tuesday of this week on Melbourne Cup day.