High hopes in million- dollar race

VIVA Racing owner Mitch Lowe has high hopes for Tribeca Star in the $150,000 Northern Rivers Country Qualifier at Lismore Turf Club.

The five-year-old gelding won the qualifier at Grafton last year, and Lowe is excited to be on home soil with the horse tomorrow.

Viva Racing is a local racing syndicate that has grown to include winning runners in support races at the Magic Millions on the Gold Coast.

The Lismore country qualifier has been promoted as the biggest race day in the turf club’s history, with the top two finishers going on to compete in the $1 million final at Randwick.

Lowe is confident the horse can get there again after a sixth-place finish in the final last April.

“The horse is probably looking better now than he was this time last year,” Lowe said.

“Its first-up run (at Doomben earlier this month) was really good and he will be hard to beat.

“We have a fair few locals who are part of the ownership group, so there will be a lot of eyes on the race.

“It’s a huge day for Lismore; the club has had a tough run, but it sounds like there is going to be a really big crowd.”

Tribeca Star also qualified and ran seventh in The Kosciusko in September.

The Kosciusko is the world’s richest race for country-trained horses, with a prize pool of $2 million.

Leading Northern Rivers jockey Matt McGuren is back on the horse after riding it to victory in the qualifier last year.

It is trained by Murwillumbah’s Matt Dunn, who nominated four other horses for the race.

Viva Racing also has ones to watch in Foo Fighter and One Thing Counts in $30,000 support races.

There will be eight races with full bar and TAB facilities available from 11.30am.

Helloworld Travel Lismore has come on board to run the Fashion on the Field event, with prizes to the winner and runner-up in male and female divisions.

Shuttle buses will run from clubs and pubs in town and tickets to the track can be purchased at lismoreturfclub.com.au.