Outback Racing Showcase series set for big finish at McKinlay

Headline photo: Jason Hoopert

By Jordan Gerrans

Damien Finter was forced to settle for a minor place finish in the 2022 Outback Racing Showcase Final at McKinaly and the Mount Isa-based trainer thinks he has the galloper to claim the popular event this year.

Finter’s Rebel Salute ran into third – almost six lengths behind the winner – in last year’s edition of the feature bush race.

The annual ORS is a popular series in the region, with a $30,000 purse on offer for the 1500 metre event under Quality Open Handicap conditions.

To be eligible to compete in the Final, a horse must have earned points in a minimum of one of the seven heats and a horse must have competed in a minimum of three events at country level in Queensland over the last year.

Factory Warrior – a newcomer to the Finter barn – just scraped into those conditions, having his third non-TAB start on Saturday afternoon on his home track.

The seven-year-old gelding ran second in an ORS heat – also at Mount Isa – earlier this month.

Factory Warrior has raced at city and provincial level for the majority of his career before a serious foot injury put him on the sidelines for the back end of last year and much of 2023.

“He ran a good race on Saturday, even though the 1200 metres was a little short for him,” Finter said of Factory Warrior’s most recent victory.

“He got the job done and the 1500 metres at McKinlay will suit him even more.”

Like Rebel Salute, Factory Warrior is owned by the Hick and Miller families from Camooweal.

They have owned the nine-time career winner since his earliest days as a race horse.

“He needed a fair bit of time off with his hoof issues and he eventually went on the auction site, before Wendy Hick bought him back,” the trainer said.

“I have looked after him with the hoof, it took us four or five months to get it right.

“It has taken a while to get his hoof right and it has been a rush to get his three country runs under his belt for this McKinlay race but we have done it now and he will be there on Saturday.”

Finter – who has a handful of gallopers in work on top of his full-time job in the mines – feels a solid 'miler' is needed to win the ORS Final.

As McKinaly has a lengthy sand straight, he believes the track races more like a mile distance than a 1500 metre surface.

Factory Warrior has improved with every run in the North West, finishing less than half a length behind the winner second-up before breaking through in the region over 1200 metres on Saturday in an Open Handicap.

“It is a great incentive, any race with extra prize money is,” Finter said of the ORS Final.

“A lot of people target it and this race was more or less his target since I got him.

“You have got to chase it when they are $20,000 to the winner.

“McKinlay is a good, big track and the straight is nearly 600 metres long, so it is more like a mile race with the long straight.”

ORS series heats were contested at Julia Creek, Barcaldine, Gregory Downs, Tambo and Longreach as well as two at Mount Isa. 

The in-form Zoomaratta and the Toni Schofield-trained Cozhecancan are also expected to be contenders for the ORS Final this Saturday.