Warrnambool galloper Dashing out to smash $1m prizemoney mark at Caulfield on Saturday

A win at Caulfield would push consistent Warrnambool-trained galloper Dashing into a small group of Australian racehorses.

Dashing will be out to push through the $1m prizemoney barrier at Caulfield on Saturday. Picture: Racing Photos via Getty Images

Consistent galloper Dashing will be out to prove honesty can produce major achievements at Caulfield on Saturday.

Winning Saturday’s 1400m Open Handicap at Caulfield would take the five-year-old past $1m in earnings at his 37th start, despite Dashing only winning one stakes race.

Dashing posted his first black-type success in the Listed Wangoom Handicap (1200m) at Warrnambool on April 30.

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Warrnambool trainer Aaron Purcell said he would consider aiming Dashing at another stakes win in the Listed Championship Final at Flemington on Saturday week.

“He’ll most likely run this weekend then we’ll nominate for the Winter Championship and we’ll weigh up if the race suits or we wait for another race,” Purcell said.

“It’s definitely a race we’re considering.”

The son of Magnus has won two of his three starts this time in with a head-scratching effort at Sandown splitting his Wangoom Handicap success and Swan Hill Cup win.

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Purcell said the surprisingly below-par Sandown effort was on the few occasions on which Dashing has disappointed connections without a valid excuse.

“All of the owners kept asking and I had no answers,” Purcell said.

“The rider had no answers either but he just never travelled that day.

“All we can think of is he went from a wet track at Warrnambool to a firm track at Sandown where they ran on a bit and he never got into a good rhythm.

“There was nothing physically wrong with him, it was just a day when the race didn’t go to his liking.

“I was confident he would bounce back at Swan Hill and he didn’t let us down.”

Dashing was a fighting winner of the Listed Wangoom Handicap at Warrnambool in April. Picture: Racing Photos via Getty Images

Dashing won two Benchmark 100 races at Caulfield last winter while the chestnut’s latest two successes have combined to push his rating up to 100, which will leave the reliable performer to carry the 60kg top weight at Caulfield.

Purcell said Dashing’s rating was the reason he decided to drop his stable star back to 1400m rather than contest Saturday’s 2000m Quality Handicap in which the grand galloper ran third last year.

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“I was thinking about the 2000m,” Purcell said.

“I was debating whether I pushed him into the 2000(m) or back off him and go back to the 1400m.

“The Wangoom win was a good effort and there’s rain forecast this week so I thought the 14 (00m) might suit him.

“Carrying top weight this year, I thought the 2000m might stretch him a bit.

“He’s at the top of the weights so it’s not going to be easy for him but whatever the race looks like, I’m sure he’ll run well.”

Originally published as Warrnambool galloper Dashing out to smash $1m prizemoney mark at Caulfield on Saturday