Amos recorded a career-best season as a trainer in the campaign of 2022-23 and he has now turned his attention to picking up a winner on his adopted local track of Home Hill on Thursday afternoon at the club’s rare mid-week TAB meeting.
While Home Hill has hosted TAB race days before, Thursday’s eight-event program is the first they have conducted for themselves.
Home Hill has held TAB days for Townsville in years gone by when Cluden Park was out of action but Thursday will be the Burdekin’s first appearance on Sky Racing standing on their own two feet.
The Amos barn have Readapt entered at Home Hill on Thursday but it is progressive three-year-old Dirt Cheap that is exciting the trainer.
The son of Sepoy blew away his opposition on debut at Cluden Park in early August and just went down at his second race day attempt at Mackay just over a fortnight later.
The bay gelding returns to Mackay early next week before Amos dreams big of a city debut runner with Dirt Cheap later in 2023.
“Dirt Cheap goes pretty exceptional, actually,” Amos said.
“He is probably going to make a trip to Brisbane later in the year, he will go around at Mackay on Tuesday first then he will go for a spell for four to six weeks.
“He won well on debut and was unlucky in his second start, he just did not level up quick enough and Sunnycoast was just a little bit better than him.”
Townsville jockey Jeffrey Felix has struck up a close partnership with Amos – riding four winners for him over the last few years – and will be in the saddle of Readapt on Thursday.
“He is a good bloke and rides much of his own track work,” Felix said of Amos.