PERHAPS A DIAMOND OUT OF THE ROUGH

IT might not be a “rough ride” after all!

Not every syndicate member was too enamored with the choice of Gravel Road as the name for a young horse by Capitalist from Highway.

But the now three-year-old’s Wyong trainer Kristen Buchanan is confident it will eventually sit well with every owner after his debut victory at his home track today.

“Everyone in the syndicate had a vote on names, and Gravel Road came out on top,” Buchanan said this evening.

“Not everyone was happy with the name, but I’m sure those syndicate members will be won over.

“Gravel Road both physically and mentally hasn’t been ready to race, and he still doesn’t have much of an idea what racing is all about.

“As you could see today he is still very, very green and yet was good enough to win.

“It’s a very encouraging sign for the future.”

Ridden by Alysha Collett, $2.05 favorite Gravel Road’s greenness almost cost him the CG&E Maiden Handicap (1100m).

He began awkwardly, got lost on the home turn and ran wide, then shifted in near the 150m and bumped heavily with Waverley Road ($7.50).

Collett was able to straighten the gelding, who did a good job in the circumstances to pick up Waverley Road in the shadows of the post, then had to withstand a protest lodged on behalf of the runner-up.

RacingNSW stewards considered all the evidence, saying the runner-up had also shifted out and both horses became unbalanced.

Having regard to how the pair finished the race off, they said they could not be comfortably satisfied Waverley Road would have finished ahead of Buchanan’s three-year-old, and consequently dismissed the objection.

Gravel Road was a $40,000 Magic Millions yearling purchase at the Gold Coast, and being out of a High Chaparral mare (Highway), Buchanan believes he will shine over a further distance with more maturity.

“He has been in and out of the stable on numerous occasions, and simply wasn’t ready to race until now,” she said.

Buchanan hopes to get Annie’s Rose to a Provincial-Midway Championships Qualifier later in the series.

The Sepoy mare, who has won three of her 13 starts, finished fourth to favorite Cinsault in a Benchmark 78 Handicap (1300m) against her own sex at Royal Randwick last Saturday.

“Annie’s Rose is definitely Benchmark 78 quality, and I will look for a suitable Qualifier on one of the bigger tracks at Hawkesbury, Newcastle or Kembla Grange,” Buchanan said.

Stablemate Tambeloa is spelling after a Brisbane summer campaign, which included placings in the Group 3 Grand Prix Stakes (1800m) and Eagle Way Quality (2100m) at Eagle Farm in late December and early January respectively.

“He will have a nice break, and we’ll look to take him back to Brisbane for the winter carnival,” Buchanan said.

Fellow Wyong trainer Nacim Dilmi and leading Newcastle trainer Kris Lees also were Wyong winners.

Dilmi’s four-year-old Pierata mare Piperita (Anna Roper) was clearly the day’s most dominant winner.

Though her first two successes were on rain-affected ground, including one at her home track, she had no trouble with the ‘Good 4’ surface and burst away in the Midway Benchmark 64 Handicap (1350m) to score by nearly four and a half lengths from Hawkesbury trainer Claire Lever’s Yes Siree ($9.50) and Wyong trainer Wayne Seelin’s Monty Be Quick ($17).

Piperita certainly relished a drop back in grade after finishing fourth at each of her last two city starts at Randwick on December 26 and the Kensington track on January 14.

Lees’ three-year-old Surpasser (Dylan Gibbons) went out a $2.80 joint favorite with Kembla Grange trainer Ross McConville’s Wormington in the Provincial Maiden Plate (1600m), and finished the race off stylishly to break through at only his fourth start.

RacingNSW stewards imposed a lifetime ban on $2.60 favorite Hydrometer, who was eased out of the race in the straight in Piperita’s race by his apprentice rider Shannen Llewellyn after making the running.

A post-race veterinary examination revealed the gelding had bled from both nostrils; the second occasion this had occurred.

STORY JOHN CURTIS, FEBRUARY 10, 2026 - PICS BRADLEY PHOTOS