By Jordan Gerrans
Barcaldine hoop Brooke Richardson has branded Echo Point the best galloper she has ridden in her time in the Central West.
And, race caller Andrew Watts – who doubles as Longreach’s president – reckons Todd Austin’s gelding is the leading horse in the area at the moment.
“Echo Point went bang – this is the best in the bush, ladies and gentlemen,” Watts proclaimed as Echo Point claimed Saturday’s Outback Racing Showcase Final at McKinaly.
The former Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott-trained Sebring gelding has been on a winning spree since moving to the Sunshine State, claiming five of his seven starts, including the first Birdsville Cup of 2022 before adding the Outback Racing Showcase Final.
The annual Final is a popular series in the region, with a $30,000 purse on offer for the 1500 metre event under Open Quality Handicap conditions.
To be eligible to compete in the Final, a horse must have earned points in a minimum of one of the heats and a horse must have competed in a minimum of three races at country races in Queensland over the last year.
Echo Point qualified for the Final on his new home track of Barcaldine in late April before putting on a galloping lesson at McKinlay on Saturday, blowing them away by more than five lengths as the short-priced favourite.
The Outback Racing Showcase Final brings together the top bush middle-distance horses from the Central and North West districts of Queensland and Echo Point did it with ease.
Richardson has been in the seat in each of the gelding’s last four victories and believes there is still more to come.
“He has well and truly proven his ability and he has never just fallen into a race; he has always won it by a fair way, he has always put a margin up on his win’s,” Richardson, who is the mother of young son Rylan, said.
“He continues to do so, he has not slackened off his since he has been out here, he has just improved.
“In McKinaly, probably form wise a couple of those horses was some of the better ones he has been up against so far.
”I think he has plenty of ability and I do not think we have reached his full potential yet from his first win, he just keeps improving.
“He has more in the bank.”
The 28-year-old Richardson has collected metropolitan winners earlier in her career and thinks Echo Point is the top horse she has ridden since relocating to the bush.
“He is the best one I have ridden in quite a long time, definitely,” Richardson said.
“Good ones like this do not come out here very often and with his nature, that is what makes him such a good horse, he is so well manured and his nature is so soft.
“He makes the job really easy; he is a professional and really nice to ride in a race.”