They competed against high-quality horses from Gunnedah, Queensland and Tamworth but it was the Nathan Sinclair-trained Playa who registered the best result.

Sinclair finally had some success over father Peter in the feature race and although neither won, Nathan said he still enjoyed his third-placing.

“I always thought the race was too short for him, but we had Darren Jones back on board and he knows the horse well enough, and when Tapakeg made a run he didn’t go with him,” Sinclair said.

“It’s been a long time coming,” he said of beating his father.

Tapakeg’s recent good run couldn’t be continued as he finished in fourth spot and Sinclair said he was pleased with how Jones handled the race.

Moree race club secretary, Michelle Gobbert, said it was a good day of racing.

“We had a good crowd in for a Thursday,” she said.

“Of the eight races we had, only two didn’t have full fields, and people came from near and far.”

Earlier in the day the Doug Fernando-trained Hanji Bro started well in the 1300-metre maiden plate before being swamped on the run home to finish 12th, while Dungiven was also unable to complete five straight wins in the benchmark 50 handicap.

Attention now turns to the Moree Cup on September 7.