The once in a century closure of the Victoria/NSW border means Jason and Jessica Sharp will be watching from Avalon as they chase their first Group 1 victory in Saturday night’s Peter Mosman Opal (520m) in Sydney.
The Sharps’ 18-year-old son Liam will be deputising for his parents at Wentworth Park with well-fancied Junk Food Junkie, a $4.40 chance with TAB in a wide-open female feature.
“Liam travelled up to Sydney on Tuesday,” Jason Sharp said.
“Liam always puts his hand up to handle in the Group races and he’s got a good head on his shoulders. It would be fantastic if she could win and I’m sure Liam would remember it for the rest of his life.
“It’s a surreal situation but you can’t change it so we’ve just got on with it and organised everything. We might have felt a bit differently 12 months ago when we were struggling for money and counting every cent.
“Jess and I don’t go to the track as much as we used to and I’m a pretty loud barracker so I can probably get more carried away at home where we’ll be watching with our other children Dylan and Mia!”
The Sharps boast a Melbourne Cup placing with Healesville Cup winner Kouta Mayhem in 2017, while earlier this year Red Rochelle was a Super Stayers finalist and now Junk Food Junkie represents a great chance for a Group 1 breakthrough.