By Chris Roots
The baroness of Bombala, Barbara Joseph, will look to lift her new home track feature at the Bega Showcase meeting at the Sapphire Coast on Sunday.
Joseph, who trains in partnership with her son Paul Jones, has stables at Canberra and Bombala and has recently taken up boxes at the Sapphire Coast and is building more.
Sapphire move: Paul Jones and Barbara Joseph have taken up boxes at the Sapphire Coast.Credit: Graham Tidy
"My husband convinced me that it was a good idea to have some boxes close to home, so we have a couple at the Sapphire Coast," Joseph said. "It is kind of a retirement plan to stop me going back to Canberra all the time.
"We are building 20 boxes there and that will keep me busy with a couple of horses.
"We are going to extend the partnership in the new season with my other son Matthew coming on board as well, so we will have someone at each of the stables."
Joseph's first winner out of the Sapphire Coast was Girls Own and he will look for the hat-trick in the Bega Showcase Cup after wins at Gundagai and Canberra.
"We thought that this race would be a bit tough for him, but it has fallen away and I think he could run very well with the limit weight and a claim," Joseph said. "It would be good to win the cup now we are locals. It would pay for the stables."
The Joseph-Jones stable also has Bank on Henry in the cup and Wonderbolt and Melberra Star in the Bega Showcase Sprint, worth $40,000.
"Wonderbolt went to the city first-up and is back in grade where he should run a good race," Joseph said.
Bennett on move
Scone trainer Greg Bennett will look to win another Country Championships before handing in his trainer's licence in April.
Bennett will take up a position at Aquis Farm in Queensland, where he will oversee the education of the stable's racing stock. His Scone stable will be taken over by Albury trainer Brett Cavanough.
"It was a great offer and I thought about it long and hard, but the benefits in taking a job with an organisation like Aquis are very exciting," Bennett said. "We will be moving up there [to Queensland] and starting a new phase of our lives.
"I will train through to the Country Championships final and that seemed like the perfect time to call it a day."
Race diary
Monday: Tamworth, Wagga. Friday: Gilgandra, Goulburn, Walcha. Saturday: Bedgerebong, Braidwood, Port Macquarie, Tumut Walcha.
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