Pat Webster looks to Kumbia Race Club

By Glenn Davis

Toowoomba trainer Pat Webster hasn’t been to Kumbia for almost a decade but is hopeful Office Jim can become another string to his bow for the Country Cups Challenge Final in Brisbane later this month.

Webster has already qualified Skyforger for the Country Cups Challenge Final at Doomben on November 30 and is hopeful Office Jim can join him by claiming one of the few remaining qualifiers at Kumbia on Tuesday.

Office Jim – a Les Tilley mount – has drawn perfectly in barrier one but faces a massive task with 63.5kgs.

“The barrier will help him and he’s going well but the weight is a concern,” Webster said.

“Hopefully he can qualify for the Final but I haven’t been to Kumbia for about 10 years.”

The eight-year-old Office Jim has met the qualifying conditions of having five starts at country TAB and non-TAB meetings in the past 12 months and will be second-up in the qualifier, which is also run as the Kumbia Cup.

In his only start this campaign, Office Jim finished ninth to Smiling Zac in a heat of the Country Stampede at Stanthorpe on October 19.

“In his first-up run he sat deep the whole way and had to carry a lot of weight as well,” Webster said.

“He’s stepping up to 1400 metres which will suit him a lot better.

“If he doesn’t qualify this time then we still have the Roma Cup coming up in a few weeks which will be his last chance to qualify for the Final.”

Office Jim was Webster’s only previous runner in the Country Cups Challenge Final when he finished second to the Olivia Cairns-trained Fire King at Doomben last year.

“His form doesn’t look that good on paper but he’s going well,” Webster said.

“He ran fifth in the Battle Of The Bush Final at Eagle Farm in June then I took him to Grafton for the Maclean Cup when Les (Tilley) fell off him.

“He wasn’t quite right and had enough when he ran fourth at Roma after that run so I gave him a short break before we took him to Stanthorpe.”

Webster trained for most of his career at St George in South West Queensland but is now in his third year training at Toowoomba.

His biggest wins of late were back-to-back Country Stampede Finals at Doomben with V J Day and Dynamic Verse in 2021 and 2022. 

V J Day also went on to finish second to the Olivia Cairns-trained Ammoudi Bay in the Battle Of The Bush Final in 2022.