Warrior’s up for Battle

Isa trainer Burow eyes final at Doomben

MT ISA trainer Bob Burow will make his first-ever visit to Doomben on Saturday with Battle of the Bush contestant Galea Warrior, who gets the services of Corey Brown after the trainer was inundated with “offers’’.

Galea Warrior earned his spot in the $100,000 final with his win in a Mt Isa heat last month, but Burow needed a new rider because 54kg is a big ask for most country riders.

“Aaron Spradou, who’s the normal jockey, said ‘if it can’t be me, you may as well get as good as you can get’,” Burow said.

“So we rang Corey’s manager and he accepted the ride.

“Along the way I had a few calls from people who were supposedly jockey managers for Hugh Bowman and a few others, so I’m not positive I’ve got (Brown), but I’m pretty sure I have.

“They’ve played quite a few games on me lately back home.”

Burow, who was a boxing trainer for 25 years before turning his hand to horses (he reckons the horses are better because they can’t talk back), has seven horses in work and mixes his racing passion with his full-time position as partowner and manager of a local convenience store in Mt Isa.

He says the Battle of the Bush has been one of the best innovations he’s seen.

“I think it’s wonderful. It’s all everyone’s been talking about the last couple of months,” he said.

“A lot of people are very excited about it – including us.

“You feel a bit forgotten about out in the bush sometimes, but when something like this comes up, you realise people are listening and do care about what happens out there.

“The only thing I would change is to make it so the horses in each particular area are the ones that qualify (as opposed to horses travelling from other jurisdictions to win a heat).”

Galea Warrior is the only horse from the northwest region to have qualified for the final.

The other Mt Isa rep in the race is leading local jockey Danny Ballard, who has taken the ride on top-weight Fab’s Cowboy in Saturday’s final.

Mt Isa local, member for Traeger and Katter Australia Party state leader Robbie Katter, suggested it will be a big night in “The Isa’’ if Burow or Ballard have success at Doomben.

Galea Warrior was formerly in Victoria with Burow’s friend Shane Nichols, who felt he would make a good country Cups horse in this part of the world. “He will probably get a bit of distance later on, so it’s been hard keeping him fresh for these shorter races,” Burow said. editorial@cairnspost.com.au facebook.com/TheCairnsPost www.cairnspost.com.au twitter.com/TheCairnsPost