Unbeaten talent Goomeri is well poised to help Matthew Dunn pick up where he left off when the Murwillumbah trainer prepares his first Highway Handicap runner in 2½ years at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday.
Dunn is back training solely at his country base near the NSW-Queensland border after making the decision to shut the door on his Warwick Farm stable last December.
The gun conditioner was unable to field Highway runners while attempting to get a foothold in the ultra competitive Sydney market.
He earned the label of “King Of The Highways” when he was previously eligible for the country-only events, winning the weekly race a record 26 times.
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“We had to wait for six months since the Sydney stable closed to get back in them but we are very excited,” Dunn said.
“We gave it a good go in Sydney but are back up here now and everything is going really good.
“The base is full and we looking back to where we left off before opening up the Sydney stable.”
Goomeri looks to be the perfect horse to kickstart Dunn’s latest Highway Handicap assault after setting the track alight in two starts in the bush.
Goomeri makes it 2 from 2!
Ben Looker aboard for @mattydunnracing. pic.twitter.com/S6TZkM4SMP
— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) June 4, 2023
The son of Vancouver dominated rivals from the front with a 4¾-length success at Port Macquarie before backing it up with another strong victory.
“He is a nice type,” Dunn said.
“It was an impressive win in his maiden. He raced better than I seen him work.
“I thought he would be competitive but I didn’t think he would do that and then he backed it up with an equally impressive win.
“There has been some good form out of the race too.”
Goomeri is a $4.80 TAB second elect in the TAB Highway Handicap (1200m) with Nash Rawiller aboard.
Dunn confirmed Goomeri would head to the paddock regardless of the result this weekend but believes the emerging youngster has bigger things in-store for him in the next 12 months.
“This will be all for him,” Dunn said.
“We just want to give him the trip away and a change of environment before bringing him back in the late spring.
“He could be a Country Championships horse next year.
“I think he is a decent horse with a good future.”
Cepheus will headline Matthew Dunn’s Ipswich team. Picture: Jeremy Ng-Getty Images
The benefits of Dunn’s border base will be on show over the weekend with the stable set to have a strong hand on Ipswich Cup day in Queensland.
Cepheus ($6.50, once purchased to be a Melbourne Cup contender, will be the headline act when he chases another stakes success in the Listed City Of Ipswich Eye Liner Stakes (1350m).
“It‘s been an unusual preparation,” Dunn said.
“We were heading down a path to get him to run over further and I don‘t know that’s him, that was based on his European form.
“He showed early in his prep he can be competitive over this sort of trip when he would the Ajax.
“We’ve put the blinkers back on him.”