Equina, who took the Castle Tankard title ahead of favourites A King Is Born and Coltrane, joins defending OK Grand Challenge champion, Ginepri, who has also been nominated for the $40,000 Grade Two race.
The OK Grand Challenge winner will pocket $24,000, while the second and third-placed horses will take home $8,000 and $4,800 respectively.
For winning the Grade One Castle Tankard, Equina collected $30,000 for owner PJ Moor, trainer Amy Bronkhorst, jockey Karl Zechner and groomer Lawrence Tsurudzo, pushing her record to seven wins and five placings in 18 starts.
Equina, who will be carrying 53kgs, is well drawn at six. She should start among the favourites for the Challenge, having also won the Champions Fillies stakes earlier in the year.
Although some of the horses took part in last year’s Challenge, Equina, the daughter of Silvino from German, is a newcomer in this race, alongside the likes of Coltrane, Double Bind, Forty One, Gentle Brook, King Halal, Lucky Sam, Menacing, Rock The Country and Star Dance.
Other horses in the line-up include A King Is Born, Orbit War, Captain’s Tiger, Approval Rating, Super Trouper and Royal Arrow. Kirk Swanson’s Madigan is the second-top weight in the race, as he will be carrying 60kgs, not the best of weights in such a demanding long race. He follows Coltrane – the top-weighted horse in the event at 62kgs.
The Argentina-bred Ginepri won the OK Grand Challenge last year ahead of A King Is Born and Captain’s Tiger.
Post published in: Sport