Mark Newnham abandoned plans to resume talented two-year-old Canyonero at the Wagga carnival just as the horse was stepping on to a Riverina-bound float.
The Warwick Farm trainer was forced back to the drawing board.
Many conditioners are known to tinker with plans at the 11th hour, but rarely has Newnham pulled the plug as late as what he did with the Pierro colt which was set to resume at the rich country carnival earlier this month.
Change of plans: Mark Newnham.
Photo: Jenny Evans
"I was originally going to take him to Wagga and he just played up on the float when we loaded him on there," Newnham said. "He wasn't going to travel well so we scratched him. Look, he didn't miss any work, but I just didn't travel him.
"The only reason he was going was because it was a $50,000 bonus and I thought it would be an easy kill first-up for him. I'm happy to go to Saturday [though]."
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It shapes as a good fallback option for Newnham, who regularly partnered Canyonero's sire Pierro when he was a trusted lieutenant for Gai Waterhouse in his time at Tulloch Lodge.
Canyonero chased home Irish Bet and Ragged Rascal when third in the Inglis Nusery on debut and was spelled quickly after his second career start in January.
The only reason he was going was because it was a $50,000 bonus and I thought it would be an easy kill first-up for him
Mark Newnham
But Newnham has seen enough in two trials back to suggest Canyonero will be a force in the Rosehill opener, which features Chris Waller's Press Box ($2.60) and Stunts ($3.10) as the popular elects.
Christian Reith will take the ride on Canyonero.
"His run in the Inglis race in December was really good and he did that off one trial," Newnham said. "He didn't have a lot of luck at his next start when he was buried on the fence there. He came back really well and has trialled twice. He'll run well on Saturday.
"There's a couple of listed races in Queensland [we could look at afterwards], but we might just stay here and have his prep in Sydney. We'll assess where he's at.
"The races up there you have to travel, they're generally big fields and while they're listed races they're generally not worth much more [in prizemoney]."
Newnham's two-pronged Rosehill attack will also include Star Sensation, who was forced to chase a long way from home when a resuming fifth behind Sedition.
"The way they ran the race the two first-up horses ran last and second-last," Newnham said. "If you were a little bit short of a run you weren't going to get any favours."
Newnham is just two wins shy of forcing his way into the top 10 in the Sydney trainers' premiership as he seeks to close the gap on John Thompson in the final couple months of the season.
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Adam Pengilly is a Sports reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.
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