Matt Dunn hopes Cascata Rossa can bring up hat-trick when he races on Gold Coast today

A MENTALLY stronger Cascata Rossa is in line to win his third straight race on the Gold Coast today as trainer Matt Dunn continues to turn around the fortunes of horses arriving to his stable.

Murwillumbah trainer Matthew Dunn and wife Keira Dunn with Perfect Dane and Delightful Feeling. Photo: Scott Fletcher.

A MENTALLY stronger Cascata Rossa is in line to win his third straight race on the Gold Coast today as trainer Matt Dunn continues to turn around the fortunes of horses arriving to his stable.

Jockey Matthew McGuren will ride the four-year-old in today’s Class 3 Plate (1800m) after the respected hoop guided Cascata Rossa to victory in the horse’s past two starts in Ballina in March.

Cascata Rosa was previously based in Newcastle and was winless from six starts when he arrived at Dunn’s Murwillumbah stable this year.

But he won a Gold Coast trial in his first outing for Dunn on February 7 and it was quickly followed by a second placing in a race at Lismore before he broke through for his victories.

Dunn said Cascata Rossa wasn’t about to end his winning ways.

“It looks like the right race for him,” Dunn said.

“He needs a strong tempo up front. I thought he would win in his first start for me but he didn’t. We expected he would be pretty competitive.”

Dunn recognised Cascata Rossa’s talent and knew he would have better luck in Queensland and northern NSW after taking him on.

“His form down in Sydney was probably strong enough to beat anything up here,” Dunn said.

“If you can bring those horses up that aren’t being beaten by huge margins then they should be reasonably good here.”

Dunn’s biggest challenge has been breaking down the Testa Rossa four-year-old’s mental barriers.

“He’s always had reasonable talent and mentally he is improving,” Dunn said.

“His run – from a racing manners point of view – was a lot better last time than when he won the time before that.

“He’s always had a few mental issues but he seems to be dealing with them better.

“He just wouldn’t settle properly through races and wanted to dive in behind other horses. But he dealt with that really well last start and did everything right.”

Dunn has managed to turn around the careers of multiple horses, most recently Bronzed Venom who won three straight between December and March.

Dunn said there was no secret formula to his success and put it down to the change in environment for the horses.

“Our stable is a fair bit different to any city stable,” Dunn said.

“I think they just appreciate it.

“They spend lots of time away from the track doing other sorts of activities like go down to the beach rather than just the same old follow the white rail around.”