Having reached the half-century last month, Murwillumbah trainer Matthew Dunn is on his way to 100 Highways, recording his 51st win in the series with Bluish Hue in last Saturday’s edition, a 1500 metre, Class 2. 
It was an impressive win by the four-year-old gelding, who started the $2.70 favourite, as he had no easy run. 
“It seems that everything that could have gone wrong went wrong,” said stable rep Holly Julius. “He was three wide coming to the corner, then four, five wide, going the widest on the track so it was one hell of a run. 
“He’s a really tough horse that has a lot of ability and still a lot to learn. We’ve definitely got one with a future here. 
“It was a Class 2 here today so he’s still eligible for another (Highway) down the track … we will be back.”
Saturday’s win was Bluish Hue’s third from 13 starts. 
“He really dug deep when it counted,” said jockey Nash Rawiller. 
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At Kembla Grange the same afternoon, Jean Van Overmeire took riding honours with a winning treble. 
The $50,000 Super Maiden (1600m) went to the John Thompson-trained three-year-old Nomadic, a $2.20 favourite, ridden by Sam Clipperton.
There were two winners at Kembla that it should pay punters to follow. 
The first is Lafite. This Chris Waller-trained three-year-old, also ridden by Clipperton, careered away to a three-length win as $1.75 favourite in the opening race on the program, a 1400-metre maiden, with a further five-length gap to third. 
In the following race, the 1400-metre Class 1, the Waterhouse/Bott-trained three-year-old Pulsator ($2.40) scored by 1¾ lengths under Winona Costin, improving his record to two starts for two  wins.
Around the traps
The previous afternoon’s Lismore Cup (1526m) saw Queensland raiders Chris and Corey Munce take the main feature with Carravilla ($4.40), ridden by apprentice Archie McColm. The winner, a five-year-old Pierata mare, is now eligible for next month’s Big Dance. 
The cup win completed a double for McColm, who’d earlier won the $50,000 Super Maiden (1210m) on Aurora Blaze ($6) for another Queenslander, Rob Heathcote.
The locals did bag one of the features, with 11-year-old At Witz End causing a boilover at $41 in a thrilling finish to the $50,000 Untamed Sprint (1200m) for Lismore’s Daniel Bowen and jockey Noriyuki Masuda.
At Scone the same day, Reece Jones took riding honours with a winning treble while Aaron Bullock rode a double.
Sunday’s Port Macquarie meeting saw the 1506-metre Super Maiden go to the Nacim Dilmi-trained Warm Front ($8), ridden by Grant Buckley. Buckley finished the meeting with a double but it was Aaron Bullock who claimed riding honours with a winning treble.
The same day at Dubbo, Warwick Farm trainer Bjorn Baker capped a banner weekend with the win of $4.20 favourite Puntin in the $150,000 Dubbo Gold Cup (1600m). Adam Farragher was the winning rider.
Earlier, local picnic powerhouse Connie Greig trained both winners in the Picnic Championship, taking the sprint (1000m) with $1.45 favourite Line Of Law and the 1400-metre race with The Bentley ($7.50).
In the latter race Greig had six of the 12 runners including the first four home. Leandro Ribeiro and Leigh Taylor were the respective winning riders.
In the 1400-metre Super Maiden, three-year-old Stay Inside colt Velocette ($10) scored by a length and a half for Wyong trainer Allan Kehoe and apprentice Shannen Llewellyn.
Whopper weekend
This Friday the Showcase action heads to Moruya for the $42,000 Legend of the South (1300m) and a $50,000 Super Maiden over 1200 metres. There’s also picnic action at Lockhart in the Riverina, where the feature is the Verandah Town Cup (1400m).
Saturday is cup day at Bundarra in the Northern Tablelands, with the feature over 1400 metres, while the highlight at Wagga Wagga is the 1800-metre Wagga Picnic Cup, a heat of the Wagga Stayers Series. 
It’s also cup day at Tabulum in the far north east, with the feature over 1400 metre.
Sunday’s three meetings include cup days at Cootamundra on the South West Slopes and at Mungery, 40km southwest of Narromine, with the features over 1600 and 1750 metres respectively. 
The Mungery Cup meeting is one of the most popular on the picnic calendar.
Monday’s public-holiday meeting at Muswellbrook features the Denman Cup (1280m) and Denman Dash (900m).