![Front Page winning the 2022 Wagga Town Plate (1200m). Picture by Les Smith. Front Page winning the 2022 Wagga Town Plate (1200m). Picture by Les Smith.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/vQaZ3anPUuND9nFzbQxA35/9ecc3621-8300-4159-8daf-a1ec6b85d6c9.jpg/r0_0_1074_678_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Two horses, rated among the top chances in the $2 million The Kosciuszko, Front Page and Mogo Magic, are going to be tough to beat.
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Their respective trainers couldn't be happier with their progress towards the big race at Randwick on October 14.
Front Page, trained by Goulburn's Matt Dale, is a lightly-raced seven-year-old, having had just the 19 starts, but he has well and truly reached the heights for a country-trained horse.
He won last year's Kosciuszko and also the Wagga Town Plate when trained by the since-retired Geoff Duryea at Corowa and back as a three-year-old he won the Creswick Stakes, a Listed race at Flemington.
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Mogo Magic, trained by Goulburn's Scott Collings, is a four-year-old that has had just the five starts and won them all, including the last three on Sydney tracks.
It's clear how good Front Page is, but Mogo Magic is still on the rise so we're still waiting to see what level he can reach.
Former Canberra trainer Dale was selected by Front Page's ownership group to succeed Duryea as the horse's trainer and he has taken an "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" approach to the job.
"Geoff did such a remarkable job with the horse that there was a lot to be learnt there," Dale said.
"We wanted to try and keep a lot of that and part of it is going first-up into The Kosciuszko.
"Front Page's win last year in the Kosciuszko first-up was top-class and his win first-up in the Wagga Town Plate was awesome.
His highest-rating runs have been first-up, so we've gone the whole way through with that in mind - to be ready to go first-up in the Kozzie.
"I'm very happy with his work so far.
"He's right where I want him to be.
"We allowed ourselves a 10-day buffer so we could get to know the horse and allow a bit of time if anything went slightly wrong, but everything's gone according to plan and he couldn't be better."
Mogo Magic is yet to race over further than 1100 metres, but Collings is adamant the extra 100 metres of The Kosciuszko won't be a problem.
"We've always had the belief that he'd be a better 1200-metre horse," he said.
"So we took the right steps with him in his most recent preparation and gave him two starts over 1100 and he won both of those.
"He's had a kick left after being taken on, so we're very pleased going forward.
"I've ridden a lot of horses over the years, both as a jockey and in trackwork as a trainer, and I've ridden Mogo Magic a lot in work, and I've always found that horses like him that travel so strong on the bridle do not have a problem with the 1200.
"I've ridden him in work every preparation since he was a baby and each prep he's got bigger and stronger.
"The Kosciuszko will suit him because of his style of racing.
"He's a go-forward horse and he makes his own luck and I think in these big races that's half the battle, making your own luck."
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