Townsville duo relying on Medal to end unlucky run

By Garry Dell

Townsville trainer Stephen Bush and jockey Pietro Romeo are pinning their faith in Medal ending an unlucky run of outs in the Mareeba Cup on Saturday.

While the Savabeel gelding has finished in the placings in six of his last 10 starts, both Bush and Romeo have had their share of bad luck over the past year.

Bush has pruned his stable from 16 to 10 in work and Romeo missed almost 12 months from the saddle with various injuries.

The pair combined to grab an overdue victory with outsider Kihi at Townsville's Cluden Park on July 20 and Romeo is confident Medal can give him his second Mareeba Cup. 

Bush, a former transport owner, moved to Townsville just over two years ago and set up a training facility at Hervey Range from where his stable struck almost instant luck with a small team of thoroughbreds after a career in the rodeo game.

Bush has racked up an imposing record of 32 winners since taking out his licence with most of his stable occupied by tried horses.

"We bought the right horses to start with and are constantly on the lookout for suitable horses to buy," Bush said.

"I have been a bit quiet on the buying and training front in the past few months having gone back into the transport side of things to keep the money coming in.

"We missed Pietro while he was out injured as he and Graham Kliese ride most of our track work and I've had to just keep some ticking over with swimming and pace work around our little track we have here.

"But, the old firm is back and I'm hoping Medal can do the right thing for us and get the chocolates on Saturday. He's got a few little tricks but Pietro knows them all and he should get the run of the race from the rails draw.

"Top weight Tropic Sands beat him by less than a length in their last meeting on Townsville Cup day but we meet him on better terms weight wise with us getting another kilogram advantage and Tropic Sands is drawn on the outside of the field of eight."

Romeo said it took him some time to recover from three separate injuries but he was now back to full-strength and reckons he can outwit Medal on Saturday.

"He's got ability but he knows he can get away with some things unless you stand over him," Romeo said.

"Let's hope he is on his best behaviour."

Bush will also saddle up Gdansk in the second feature - the Mareeba Bracelet over 1210 metres - with Cairns jockey Masayuki Abe in the saddle.

"He's not without a chance of giving me a double on the day based on his handy last-start run at Home Hill," Bush said.