Matt Dunn will saddle up his first Highway Handicap runner in almost three years and he is hoping he can land an immediate blow with unbeaten three-year-old Goomeri.
Once regarded as the ‘King of the Highways’ due to his prolific strikerate, Dunn hasn’t been permitted to have runners in the country-restricted races since relocating a small team of horses to Sydney during the Covid pandemic in mid-2020.
He later set up a permanent Sydney base but the move didn’t turn out as planned and at the end of last year, Dunn closed the operation and returned to Murwillumbah.
He has had to wait a further six months to regain his Highway eligibility but having been given the all-clear, he will return to the fray with Goomeri in Saturday’s 1200m event.
“That (Sydney) stable didn’t work as well as we hoped it would and we had to make the tough decision to close it, but I think it was the right choice,” Dunn said.
“Clients are coming back, horses are coming back. We won about twelve races last month so there are certainly plenty of winners being produced out here.
“They’ve improved the facility quite a bit since I left two years ago, their tracks and their infrastructure have improved out of sight.
“It’s a good place to be, I’m happy to be home.”
Goomeri has been an impressive winner of his only two starts, streeting his rivals by more than 4-1/2 lengths on debut at Port Macquarie then comfortably accounting for a class two field at Murwillumbah.
Dunn feels he has the right profile for a Highway Handicap at this stage of his career and could develop into a Country Championships contender next autumn.
“He’s really progressive. It’s hard enough to go from a maiden win to a class one, let alone straight to a class two and there was a little bit of form in that race,” he said.
“He didn’t just fall over the line and get it done, he ran away from them again late.
“He’s a really nice horse and I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets to a much better level than this before he finishes his career.”
Goomeri has drawn barrier 16 and while far from ideal, Dunn believes he can overcome it.
“He worked pretty hard both his runs and was still really strong late,” he said.
“I’m not frightened to chew a bit of petrol early because you know he’ll still give you what you need late in the race as well.”
Nash Rawiller has the ride on Goomeri, a $5.50 chance in early markets.