Kathy O’Hara (second from the right) guided Yet Tobe Convinced in to 2nd place in the 2015 heat, for trainer Scott Spackman.

Wagga thoroughbred horse trainers and former Harden men, Chris Heywood and Scott Spackman will do battle today, in the Wagga heat of the Country Championships at 4:50pm, Saturday February 27.

Race 7 will see Heywood with 3 runners including: High Opinion ($8) to be ridden by Chris’ son Nick, Mitchell Road ($15 ) and Imperious ($17) whilst Spackman will have outside chance Adequacy ($81) line up in the qualifier. The first and second horse in each regional race will qualify for the $400,000 Country Championships final to be held at Royal Randwick in Sydney on Day 1 of The Championships, Saturday 2 April 2016.

Heats have already been held in Goulburn and Scone and will also be held in Taree, Grafton, Wellington and Dubbo as well as a special wildcard event over 1280 metres at Muswellbrook on March 27.

Heywood had the emergency for the final last year after placing 3rd at Wagga, however Spackman qualified Yet Tobe Convinced and came in 7 of 16 runners in the 2015 final.

We wish them both the best of luck today!