By Craig Sheppard
The 2019 TAB Battle of the Bush gets under way at Gladstone this weekend, where the remarkable bush sprinter Fab's Cowboy will look to book his spot in the final for a second straight year.
Here's four of the leading contenders heading into Saturday's race.
- Fab’s Cowboy (12) – The 2017 Queensland Country Horse of the Year is no stranger to the Battle of the Bush series. He was the first horse through to last year’s final following his win in the Cunnamulla qualifying race. He returns to Gladstone to defend his Greg McCann Memorial title after winning this race last year. The seven-year-old gelding has been racing in great form this preparation, recording three wins from three starts. He is undefeated in five starts at the track. He possesses enough early speed to counter the outside gate. The 4kg claim for Minonette Kennedy gets him in nicely at the weights.
- Bel Seleva (4) from the Glenn Richardson stable is on an unbelievable winning streak! The four-year-old mare has won her past six starts. Last start she carried 63kg at Gympie over 1030m and still proved too strong for Jomar’s Element who she meets here. She won by 3.5 lengths three starts back on this track which was her only previous start at Gladstone.
- Malibu Affair (9) has been racing in consistent form this preparation. His past four starts have seen him record a win and three seconds. The win came at his home track of Roma over 1000m three starts back where he narrowly defeated Smooth Hustler. Last start he came within 1.25 lengths of Fab’s Cowboy over 1200m at Roma but will now meet that horse worse at the weights.
- Jomar’s Element (7) has finished runner-up in his past two starts. The most recent saw him well held by Bel Seleva at Gympie. The start prior he finished a one-length second at Monto to Brat Attack who is also set to run in this race. He needs to improve to feature here but gets his chance given he’ll go forward.