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Macchina Volante and apprentice jockey Jasper Franklin were the headline acts on Murwillumbah Cup day and they will join forces for the first time in the M&T Tyres Lismore Cup Prelude (2100m) on Thursday.
Jasper Franklin landed a career-best four winners at Murwillumbah and Macchina Volante provided trainer Stewart Campbell with his second Murwillumbah Cup from as many attempts.
Macchina Volante's cup-winning jockey Ben Looker will ride one of the main chances, Nemingah, with Franklin's 3kg claim reducing his mount's weight to 60kg.
Trainer Stewart Campbell believes Macchina Volante may have improved slightly since winning, but added he would need to as he has to carry more weight over a longer distance.
"He is going just as well, if not a bit better. He has a new jockey who is riding well, but he does go up in the weights and in distance," he said.
"He has never raced beyond 1500 metres, but he is used to carrying big weights."
Interestingly, Franklin's father Craig rode Macchina Volante at his final start at his previous preparation in April and now his son will take over for the first time.
Campbell has the $75,000 Lismore Cup (2100m) on September 23 as the target for Macchina Volante with the winner of Thursday's feature gaining automatic entry.
"I think he will have enough benchmark points to gain a start, but a win would guarantee it," he suggested.
"The Lismore Cup is worth a bit of money so it would be nice to have a starter again."
Campbell ran second at his only previous attempt of winning the Lismore Cup which was with Bernie Of Babylon in 2015. Macchina Volante's racing style is well suited to a longer distance, but possibly not to a track like Lismore, according to Campbell.
"There is a bit of speed in the race which is good for him, but a lot of on pace horses run well at Lismore," he said. "Ideally I would have liked an 1800 metre race, but Thursday's event is the next best option."
Campbell only trains a couple of horses, but is anything but a one-man operation. His wife Fran and trackwork jockey Loren Rolls also keep the stable operation churning.
"Loren has been great with my horses and deserves a lot of the credit for how they are going," he said. "A lot of hard work goes into winning races and when we were able to win another Murwillumbah Cup it was a big thrill."
"The owners couldn't be on track which is probably just as well as they love a good time."
Nemingah and Head Up High were placed behind Pleased over 2020m on Murwillumbah Cup day and present a huge challenge for Macchina Volante.
Wild Moon also has the right credentials to be a force after running third at Eagle Farm last start and prior to that running fourth behind Pleased in the Ken Howard Cup at Coffs Harbour.
Lismore trainer Daniel Bowen prepared two winners at the most recent Lismore meeting last month and will be represented in the prelude by Holbrook. The seven-year-old was narrowly beaten last start at Grafton which followed a win in a lower-class race at Casino.
The inside barrier draw will enable Holbrook to position up behind the speed on the fence and hopefully have every chance in the final stages. Holbrook is the highest prizemoney earner in the race with $165,000 and is the value runner.
Meanwhile, Ballina trainer Stephen Lee also finished with a double at the most recent Lismore meeting and will start four horses on Thursday. His best chance again is Sinepari which has won his past two starts at Lismore and will start in the Newton Deni Chapelle Benchmark 58 (1516m).
The other feature race at Lismore is the XXXX Gold Untamed Sprint Prelude (1100m) where the Bowen-trained Amirykal is coming off a last-start victory in the Murwillumbah Newmarket.
