MATCHA LATTE TRIALS & McEVOY GAINS MIDNIGHT OPAL RIDE

FAVORITE Matcha Latte will trial at Newcastle’s Beaumont track on Tuesday, and Kerrin McEvoy has secured the mount on yesterday’s Kembla Grange Qualifier winner Midnight Opal.

They are the latest developments in the lead-up to the $1m Provincial-Midway Championships Final (1400m) at Royal Randwick on April 11.

Matcha Latte’s Wyong trainer Nacim Dilmi this morning confirmed he would trial the gelding at the Beaumont track rather than Hawkesbury tomorrow, whilst Newcastle trainer Nathan Doyle’s racing manager David Dyson announced thrice Melbourne Cup winning jockey McEvoy (Brew in 2000, Almandin in 2016, and Cross Counter two years later) as Midnight Opal’s rider.

Dilimi, in his first season of training and with 21 wins already safely tucked away, is of course keen to emulate fellow Wyong trainer Sara Ryan, who prepared Matcha Latte to defeat leading Newcastle trainer Kris Lees’ pair Lord Of Biscay and Imposant in last year’s PMC Final.

It’s a challenge he is relishing, finding the right path to having the six-year-old “spot on” for April 11.

“Because of Matcha Latte’s troubles in the past (serious injury, feet problems and a bleeding attack), I have to be careful not to be too hard on him,” he said today.

“But I can’t be too easy either.

“Matcha Latte is sound, and I prefer to trial at Newcastle on Tuesday rather than go to Hawkesbury tomorrow.

“Ash Morgan will ride him in the 1000m trial before he heads off for the Port Macquarie meeting that afternoon.

“Ash won the Final on Matcha Latte last year, the recent Qualifier at Hawkesbury and will be on him in the Final again.”

Dilimi said he is also considering giving Matcha Latte an exhibition gallop between races at his home track’s meeting on Easter Saturday (April 4).

“It’s a week before the Final, and there’s a strong chance I will do that.”

Dilmi said he has been keenly watching all the Qualifiers to judge Matcha Latte’s likely threats in the Final.

“I’m particularly interested to see if Banjora runs in the Wild Card (1400m) at Newcastle on Tuesday week,” he said.

“Banjora (previously unbeaten) was very unlucky when third in last week’s Gosford Qualifier (1200m).”

Matcha Latte is currently $3 favorite with TAB.com.au to win the Final, with lightly-raced Sydney four-year-old Banjora (yet to qualify) next at $5.

Meanwhile, Midnight Opal’s victory over Wyong trainer Damien Lane’s Oakfield Saturn ($8) and Hawkesbury trainer Blake Ryan’s Strawberry Impact ($5) in yesterday’s fifth Qualifier (1400m) at Kembla Grange has provided Newcastle trainer Nathan Doyle with his maiden runner in a PMC Final. Electric Girl (fourth to Cristal Breeze in 2021) was his first representative in the annual feature when it was restricted to eligible provincial-trained horses only (the series has included eligible Midway-trained horses from 2022).  

That mare, when in the care of Kembla Grange’s late leading trainer Gwenda Markwell, also qualified for Through The Cracks’ Final the previous year.

McEvoy added another Group 1 to his impressive record when he got last year’s Golden Slipper winner Marhoona home narrowly from leading Newcastle trainer Brad Widdup’s Jedibeel in yesterday’s $1m The Galaxy (1100m) at Rosehill Gardens.

‘I spoke with Kerrin’s manager last night to confirm the booking for Midnight Opal in the Final,” Doyle’s racing manager David Dyson said.

“The wet conditions obviously suited Midnight Opal yesterday, but nonetheless he did a good job having to race wide throughout,” Dyson said.

“He was gutsy at the end too; they had their chance to beat him.”

Midnight Opal’s connections no doubt would not mind if the Final was run at Kembla Grange on a wet track. He has started three times there for two wins and a second.

“Midnight Opal most likely will be Nathan’s sole runner in the Final, as our other Kembla Qualifier starters Mornington Pier (sixth) and Caltsar (eighth) are unlikely to go to the Wild Card at home on Tuesday week,” Dyson added.

. The latest PMC Final market is:

3 Matcha Latte (Q)

5 Banjora

7 Oui Oui Oui (Q)

9 Buffalo (Q), Octa De Lago (Q)

11 Meridiana

15 Aisle Two, Hyperbolic, Midnight Opal (Q), Imposant, Lord Of Biscay, Miss Busslinger (Q), Miss Spacegirl, Mogul Monarch (Q), Oakfield Jupiter (Q), Oakfield Saturn (Q)

26 Harry’s Bar (Q)

STORY JOHN CURTIS, MARCH 22, 2026 - PICS BRADLEY PHOTOS