By Jordan Gerrans
Having adjusted well to the dirt racing surface in North West Queensland, trainer Damien Finter thinks Rebel Salute is ready to give the top bush gallopers a shake in Saturday’s Outback Racing Showcase Final at McKinaly.
The annual Final is a popular series in the region, with a $30,000 purse on offer for the 1500 metre event under Open 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.
Finter’s Rebel Salute picked up points at two of the Mt Isa legs of the series – which is the trainers’ home track.
The five-year-old Deep Field gelding was previously prepared by the now retired team of Bryan and Daniel Guy on the Gold Coast, before being sold to North West based connections.
Having raced across South East Queensland for much of his career, the bay gelding needed time to adjust to the dirt racing around his new home.
“It is pretty tough to get them going on the dirt when they are used to the grass because some horses are used to settling in the back of the field and getting home, which is hard to do on the dirt,” Finter explained.
“Rebel Salute did like running on like that and it takes an adjustment for them to be ridden up on the speed and ridden a different way to what they are used to for most of their careers.
“With acclimatisation and with the different weather out here in the west, some horses take to it pretty quickly, while others need a preparation and a spell to get used to it.
“This fella has adapted pretty well.”
The stable of Finter is best known for the feats of former bush star Deadly Choices, who started his career in Victoria on the grass, before making his way to the dirt of outback Queensland.
Deadly Choices and Rebel Salute share similar ownership groups – the Hick and Miller families – with the stable newcomer purchased to become a contender for popular series’ such as the Battle of the Bush and the Country Cups Challenge.
The five-time career winner has only been out of the money on one occasion from his four starts for Finter – which came first-up in the area at Maxwelton.
“He took a couple of runs to get used to the dirt and the different surfaces but he is going along good,” Finter said.
“It is a tough little field for Saturday, there is a few handy horses in it.
“We have got him fit now and he will be thereabouts on Saturday.”
The Outback Racing Showcase includes seven heats around the region – Mt Isa, Barcaldine, Tambo and Longreach - before culminating in Saturday’s Final at McKinlay with the increased prize money of $30,000 on offer.
The 2021 Final was won by Todd Austin’s winning-machine Sizzalating before his retirement.