Sport
26 February, 2026
Mirfin lands quinella in big qualifier
Raced at Mudgee, Saturday, February 21, 2026
Bathurst trainer Dean Mirfin who has enjoyed success previously in the race, landed the quinella with Tom Vegas and Turned Down at Mudgee on Saturday in the $150,000 Evergreen Turf Central Districts Country Championship Qualifier.
Well remembered is the 2018 Qualifier at Mudgee when jockey Eleanor Webster-Hawkes navigated a path through torrential rain to win on the Dean Mirfin trained $51 outsider Cosmologist.
Since the inception of the race in 2015 the Mirfin stable has qualified five finalists and the latest, Tom Vegas and Turned Down, will now head to Royal Randwick on Saturday, April 4, 2026 for the $1,000,000 Evergreen Turf Country Championship Final.
Zarizatycoon edged past the leader Onyspeed turning for home at Mudgee on Saturday in the 1400 metres qualifier with several rivals in the 14-horse field ready to challenge.
Crusader Kings ($3.80 to $3.30 favourite) hit the front inside the final 200 metres before Tom Vegas owned by Danny Gregory and brilliantly ridden by Cowra jockey Mathew Cahill ($5.50), coming from midfield with a rails run, arrived in time to win by neck from stablemate Turned Down (Zac Wadick, $10) with a short head to the David Smith, locally trained Instead ($19) ridden by Dubbo apprentice Zoe Hunt, while Crusader Kings wound up in fourth place.
“I was boxed in and thought about trying to ease out wider however a gap fortunately appeared on the rails,” explained Mathew Cahill who has ridden with great skill over many years.
The Gayna Williams-trained Zarizatycoon, dominant winner of the Qualifier at Orange in 2025, has since undergone a serious operation and first up after 12-months was a brave fifth and will probably be aimed at the Wild Card at Scone to try and qualify for the final.
Before his third with Instead, Mudgee trainer David Smith had a winning double with The Contractor and A Boy Named Soo.
Backed from $2.15 to $1.90 favourite, The Contractor (Amy McLucas) had a nice run behind Just Joan and Chasing Quivers then shot away to score by three lengths from Velka (Ben Looker, $3.90) and Just Joan (Zac Wadick ($21).
Bred and owned by Mudgee based bookmaker Terry Marskell, A Boy Named Soo ($17) made it successive wins when with Ben Looker in the saddle, from near last finished strongly along the rails in the 1400 metres Ross Granata Motors Showcase Benchmark 66 Handicap to account for The Manager (Chelsea Hillier, $31) and Sidenay (Gabrielle Johnston, $16).
Shooting for a winning hat-trick, Nor Nor West (Chelsea Hillier, $3.10 to $2.30 fav.) looked the likely winner until the 10 year old , Kylie Kennedy, Narromine-trained Gidgee Guy (Grant Buckley, $31) powering home from the back of the field won the 1100 metres Radio 2MG and Real FM Showcase Benchmark 66 Handicap by a long neck with Andale (Zoe Hunt, $5) a handy third.
The Clint Lundholm stable at Dubbo has been producing a stream of winners over late summer and State Of Grace ($4.40) owned by Todd Smith and ridden by Grant Buckley kept up the good work when shaking off joint leader Bosco at the top of the straight and going on to win the 1200 metres Gooree Wines Country Boosted Showcase Class One Handicap by almost two lengths from the fast finishing Argyle Laird (Jacob Stiff, $26) and The Git Up (Jake Pracey-Holmes, $7).
Another trainer going well is Mendooran based Jane Clement who supplied the quinella Toulon Factor (Ryan Bradley, $6) and Bill Peyto (Jacob Stiff, $14) in the 1850 metres “The Rabbitohs Classic” Benchmark 58 Handicap.
The other winner, the Bjorn Baker, Warwick Farm-trained Curie (Olivia Chambers) started at a prohibitive price ($1.15 to $1.06 favourite) when beating Foolish Notion (Ben Looker, $20) and Claudio (Mathew Cahill, $16) by nearly three lengths in the 1100 metres Printstorm Maiden Plate.
Mudgee has a good habit of timing meetings with National Rugby League events held either the day before or day after a race meeting, with Manly and South Sydney both having a race named after them before playing their Witzer Pre-Season Challenge match at Glen Willow Regional Sports Stadium the next day (Sunday, February 22).
