3 minute read

Taree trainer Ross Stitt reckons his in form gelding Clan McClymont owes him a win in Sunday's Bowraville Cup for causing him a great deal of personal pain last weekend.

The veteran trainer was left writhing in pain after the five-year-old caught him unawares and smashed his right forearm in two places while he as tending to horses in his Taree stable.

“The bugger definitely owes me,” Stitt said.

“He really did a job on me - both bones in my forearm were smashed.

“I was leading a horse off the walker, all of a sudden a couple of horses got frightened and Clan McClymont cow kicked me.

“I can tell you, it wasn't pretty.

It was a rude return to the realities of training for Stitt as he has just returned from a holiday in England and France.

“It's funny. One minute he's my worst nightmare, the next I'm in his corner, hoping he can win the Bowraville Cup,” he said.

Stitt has won the Bowraville Cup on three previous occasions and Clan McClymont is in the right form to make it four as he is chasing a hat trick of wins after scoring a double at Taree on May 29 and June 12, both on heavy tracks.

The tricky Bowraville, featuring a steep climb up the back straight and a downhill run to the winning post, suits Clan McClymont. He has raced there on two occasions for a second and third.

“Let's hope there a win added to the statistics,” Stitt said.

“He's hit good form at the right time and he's not too harshly treated at the weights, he gets in good I think.”

After Hodder's two kilo claim Clan McClymont will carry 55kg.

Following Bowraville, Clan McClymont will attempt back to back wins in the $25,000 Maclean Cup (1400m) at Grafton on July 17.