Rock Spur a chance for Cup contention
In a year with a questionable standard of local stayers, experienced Tolga rider Stephen Wilson thinks Rock Spur might be able to pinch a Cairns Cup.
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In a year with a questionable standard of local stayers, experienced Tolga rider Stephen Wilson thinks Rock Spur might be able to pinch a Cairns Cup.
The eight-year-old gelding has been through it all as a racehorse.
A couple of years ago he was a gun sprinter and even ran third in Brisbane, following excellent FNQ form, over the 1200m trip.
Since then, it has been up and down, going through the hands of a number of trainers and battling a number of injuries, but trainer Allan Paterson and Wilson, who rides the bay in work, reckon they have got him spot-on.
Rock Spur was a somewhat surprise winner in the final event on Tuesday at Cairns, the Open Handicap (1900m), which will act as a clear lead-up race towards next month’s Cairns Cup for the FNQ horses.
Rock Spur drifted in betting late on and despite being back near last at the 400m, Wilson found a way through to score by 0.3 lengths.
“He is just getting old, the sprint has gone out of him a bit and we have been training him to stay more now,” Wilson said.
“We will aim for the Cairns Cup now, I would imagine.
“He will get no weight in a Cup and the stayers around here this year, they do not seem that strong at the moment.
“He is a chance in a race like that, at the moment.
“The horse is getting back to his peak now and he will only improve from that.”
When in the yard of former Tablelands-based trainer Samantha Molino, Rock Spur, by Magnus from Priceless Diamond, went through his grades – winning on five occasions in his first Queensland preparation.
The Dimbulah-based Paterson has owned the former Victorian-based gelding for all of his Queensland starts but only took over the formal training duties over the past year or so.
Looking ahead to the Cairns Cup on August 28 at Cannon Park, previous winner We Just Love It got going late on Tuesday to finish 2.6 lengths behind Rock Spur, while Rocco and Arms Race also ran promising races.
Reigning Cup winner Stephen Massingham was buoyed by the run of recent stable acquisition in the Open Handicap (1900m), Follow Suit.
Follow Suit had only just arrived from Brisbane and led them up carrying 60kg, before tiring to finish three lengths behind Rock Spur.
“He has done everything right since he has been here, his first-up run at Ipswich was fair,” Massingham said.
“He ran second to The Harrovian up here last time so hopefully we can get him back near there.”
Originally published as Rock Spur a chance for Cup contention