Scone trainer Rodney Northam has Country Championships ambitions for last Saturday’s Highway winner Try a Lil Harder, but fears the Randwick showpiece may come around too soon for the lightly raced mare.
Apprentice Blaike McDougall had Try a Lil Harder ($2.60 favourite) perfectly placed throughout last week’s 1100-metre class 2 contest at Rosehill, just off the speed and one off the rail. 
The Goulburn-trained She Knows ($5.50) wasn’t so fortunate, trapped three wide for the entire journey before hitting the front at the 300-metre mark. 
Despite fighting back gamely, She Knows was unable to hold off the challenge of Try a Lil Harder, going down by a half-length. 
Northam may now set the winner for the Country Championships qualifier at Scone (March 18), but has expressed concerns about the rise to 1400 metres. 
“It could all be too soon for her,” he said. “It was good she settled well and was strong on the line. I’ll leave it to the owners.”
McDougall was impressed with the feel he got from Try a Lil Harder, who now boasts three wins and a third from six starts.
 “She relaxed beautifully, travelled well and I thought I was the winner a long way out,” he said. 
“If she relaxes well enough, you can put her anywhere in the race. It just depends on how good her turn of foot is over an extra (300 metres).”
Southern comfort
Country trainers had more to celebrate at Rosehill than just the standard Highway win, with the last two races on the card falling to stables from Canberra and Goulburn respectively.
In the benchmark 95 Schweppes Handicap (1100m), Perizada ($7), trained in partnership by Ron Weston and John Nisbet, settled handy under Tim Clark and finished strongly over the final 200 metres to defeat $3.40 favourite Fickle Folly by a length. 
The win brought up back-to-back victories for the six-year-old, who may be set for a black-type race in the near future. 
In the last, the benchmark 89 Triple M Marquee Handicap (1350m), Lofty’s Menu ($7.50) showed plenty of courage to fight back after being headed in the straight to defeat Up ’n’ Rolling ($9) by a head. 
Connections of the winner had some anxious moments after the race. Not only did they have to wait for the photo-finish result, they had to survive a protest by the runner-up. 
Lofty’s Menu is trained by John Bateman and was ridden by apprentice Jean Van Overmeire, who claimed a three-kilo allowance for the last time. 
The apprentice, who has been riding in fine form lately, is now down to a 2kg claim in town. 
Falerina flies
Brett Cavanough, the former southern NSW trainer now based in Scone, looks to have a smart filly on his hands in Falerina, winner of the 1100-metre Class 1 at her home track last Friday. 
The three-year-old, ridden by Aaron Bullock, started odds-on and romped away to win by three lengths. 
With two wins and a second from just three starts, this filly is definitely one to follow.
Williams 1-2-3
Last week I mentioned that Port Macquarie-based Jenny Graham had just become the first trainer to prepare the trifecta in a Country Championships qualifier. 
Six days later, Goulburn trainer Danny Williams equalled the feat on his home track. 
In fairness to Graham it should be mentioned that she achieved her trifecta with just three starters, whereas Williams sent nine to the barriers including the odds-on favourite, Don’t Give a Damn ($1.70), who finished 10th of the 16 runners. 
In a tight finish, Kopi Luwak ($6.50), ridden by Mitchell Bell, finished strongly along the rails to score by a short neck from Pumpkin Pie ($14), with Aquittal ($16) in third place. 
“This is the first time I’ve had nine runners in a race,” Williams told media. 
“It’s a big thing just to get a horse qualified for the race. To have so many runners isn’t easy, but it is good for my owners.” 
The trainer was full of praise for the winner. 
“He’s got untapped ability. He’s still learning. The penny hasn’t dropped yet.” 
The trainer added that the five-year-old had missed a lead-up race due to a setback and had only been able to work on the treadmill for the fortnight before the race. 
“So who knows how good he could be?” he said. 
Both Kopi Luwak and Pumpkin Pie are now qualified for the $500,000 Country Championships final on April 7.
Cosmo all the way
Last weekend’s other Country championships qualifier was on Sunday at Mudgee, where wild weather and a deteriorating track saw a pair of longshots through to the final.
 Before the first race, the track was rated a good 3 but by the time the 1400-metre qualifier was run it had been downgraded to a heavy 8. 
So atrocious had visibility become in torrential rain that Sky Channel could not provide vision of the race and veteran caller Col Hodges was only able to identify the leading contenders over the final stages. 
For the record, the Dean Mirfin-trained Cosmologist, ridden by Eleanor Webster-Hawes, caused a boilover leading all the way to score from Noel’s Gift, with Ori On Fire third. 
The winner paid $75.60 on the NSW tote, while both Cosmologist and Noel’s Gift started at $51 with the bookies. 
“I told her (Webster-Hawes) to go straight to the front, keep your colours clean and make them chase you,” said Bathurst-based Mirfin. 
In what may have been something of an understatement, Webster-Hawes said the conditions were “hard to ride in”.
“I was hoping Cosmologist would stick it out, because he was knackered at the furlong (200m) and so was I.”