Courting Verity punches above her weight ahead of Clifford Park hat-trick attempt

RACING: Courting Verity could well turn out to be the best $3000 Troy Pascoe has ever spent.

Trainer Troy Pascoe. Picture: Kevin Farmer

RACING: Courting Verity could well turn out to be the best $3000 Troy Pascoe has ever spent.

The Toowoomba trainer has managed to turn the fortunes of the former Victorian galloper around since moving north of the border.

In two Queensland starts, the seven-year-old has gone on to claim wins at the Sunshine Coast and Clifford Park, as she looks to bring up her hat-trick of wins tomorrow night at her home track.

However if it wasn’t for the persistence of a friend, we might have never laid eyes on the mare.

“My mate had to be me to buy her and I’m glad we did,” Pascoe said.

“I looked at her on paper and she was a seven-year-old mare and her record wasn’t that great (20:2-1-3).

“I watched her replays and had a feeling on her two wins that she wasn’t a miler and that they were stretching her out too far.

“She was over-racing and pulling at the mile. Her wins at 1400m had a good tempo upfront and she hit the line really well.

“I thought the key to her would be to keep her fresh and sprinting, so we went on a hunch and purchased her.”

The decision has proven to be a shrewd one, with Courting Verity winning her first two starts with Pascoe, picking up more than $27,000 in prizemoney in the process.

A change in philosophy has proven the difference, with the fortunes of the mare turning around.

“She was way too fat when I first got her,” Pascoe said.

“I trimmed her down and once we knocked a bit of the baby fat off her, she really started to stand up.

“I think they were looking too much at the breeding (by Reset) in stretching her out to the mile. She looks like a sprinter to me.”

Connections are hoping that can be increased at Clifford Park as she lines up in the Moore Trailers Ratings Band 0-65 Handicap (1210m), with Pascoe again keeping her over the short course.

“She’s well weighted and drops in weight from the other night,” he said.

“It’s the right sort of race for her, although I wish she drew a bit closer. In saying that she’s probably come on a bit from the run.

“She won well the other day and you never know if they can keep going. But this is a similar race.”

Clifford Park’s seven-race card tomorrow night gets underway at 4.56pm, with the last to jump at 8.30pm.

Clifford Park’s seven-race card gets underway at 4.56pm, with the last to jump at 8.30pm.

Originally published as Courting Verity punches above her weight ahead of Clifford Park hat-trick attempt