Country switch set to pay off for city winner County Kilkenny

Wagga trainer Tim Donnelly will make the trip to Cootamundra on Sunday with the $32,000 Twin Hills Cootamundra Cup the target for talented city winner County Kilkenny.

Donnelly has given County Kilkenny 15 starts with the gelding having won four of them and being placed in another four, amassing more than $130,000 in prizemoney.

“The drop back to country grade looks made to order for him,” said Donnelly.

“He didn’t have much luck in the run at Canterbury the other day when he ran sixth and his form in town in his three runs prior was also good, with a couple of seconds in Highway company being followed by a heavy track win on the Kensington track.”

Apprentice Molly Bourke has been aboard County Kilkenny in his past three starts, and Donnelly said the jockey was keen to stick with the five-year-old at Cootamundra.

“When Molly rode her the other day I told her I was looking to go to the Cootamundra Cup and she said she wanted to ride him again,” Donnelly said.

“He’s a horse that just keeps improving and I’d like to think he could measure up in better races as he matures a little more.

“He’s a half brother to Waterford and Wicklow, and Wicklow won the Wagga Cup as a five-year-old. I’ll give County Kilkenny this run and then maybe one more, and then we will look to the autumn and winter with him.

“He’ll still be five by the time the Wagga Cup comes around in May and while it’s never an easy race to win I think he could be a chance, especially if he was to strike a heavy track.”