3 minute read

Back On Henry has to overcome a horror gate, but co--trainer Paul Jones believes the Canberra gelding is over-the-odds in tomorrow’s 2016 The Country Championships Final at Royal Randwick.

Bank On Henry has been freshened following his second placing to Lofty’s Menu in the Goulburn The Country Championships Qualifier on 20 February.

Jones says he has never had the son of Henrythenavigator looking so good.

“He had his main gallop last Saturday and I was excited by it,” Jones says. “It was a strong, sterling effort.

“Since we put the blinkers on two runs ago he is a different horse.

“It has really switched him on. He is now jumping with them and making himself more competitive at the end of a race.”

Jones says Lofty’s Menu is the benchmark horse in The Country Championships Final.

“We have to find a couple of lengths on Lofty’s Menu, but we do get a 1.5kg weight swing from the heat and I believe Bank On Henry has come on.”

Jones says he wants jockey Mathew Cahill to keep Bank On Henry in the running line from the wide draw, tag into the race and be there to pounce and let down.

“Essentially he is a mile or a mile and a quarter horse first-up, and I have trained him to keep the freshness in this legs.

“And I know that he is going to be very strong at the end of the 1400m.”

Lofty’s menu is currently on the second line of betting for 2016 The Country Championships Final at $4.60, while $34 is available for Bank On Henry around the traps.

The Joseph-Jones training partnership has two horses in at Wagga on Sunday — Token Of Love and Singled Out — and Jones rates them both strong chances on the expected dry track.