Tuesday, May 5, 2020
Often referred to as a greyhound with no road sense, Rouse Rocket finally found winning form at start number 10 in last Thursday’s Bartholomew Pick 6 Maiden Stake (400 m) at Tara Raceway.
Glenroy trainer Richard Clayfield reckoned it was the best the 35 kilogram black dog had negotiated traffic. Not so the start, though. He looked like he came out of box eight with the hand brake on!
And the well-bred son of Peter Rocket x Headline still had plenty of work to do turning for home before finishing powerfully to grab Angelo’s Entity for a half length win in 23.72 seconds.
He became the seventh member of the litter to win a race, following on from Burn Time, Falcon Heavy, High Fly Dorothy, High Fly Emma, Rocketline and Tandiki.
Meanwhile, owner Jack Casey, living in the shadows of the iconic landmark Mount Rouse, an extinct volcano that lies in the town of Penshurst, disappointingly was a non-starter at Tara Raceway last week due to the coronavirus restrictions in place at the border and the track.
Rouse Rocket is by no means the first “Rouse” dog he has been successful with – Rouse Flyer one of the better ones after winning 26 races as well as the 2014 Mount Gambier Greyhound of the Year.
Purchased as a pup from Compton breeder Tracie Price, Rouse Rocket found his way to Glenroy at 12 months of age, Clayfield, who also broke-in the dog, admitting that the May 2018 whelping had at times been something of a challenge.
“Pretty well from day one he seemed to struggle at Tara Raceway going around the turn off the back and then if there was a dog to run into the back of then he would find it. However, with the exception of the start, last week was the best he’s handled himself in a race,” he said.
From a training point of view, Clayfield said he was the fastest dog that he’s put up his straight track.
Meanwhile, Rouse Rocket will step up in class and distance when jumping from box four in Thursday’s Rock’s Tavern Maiden/One Win Stake (512 m).
Looking hard to beat is Galactic Horizon, raced in the same interests as her litter sister Galactic Athena and an impressive 2¼ lengths second behind Rock It Fernando over 512 metres in 30.21 seconds at last week’s meeting.
And an interesting first starter in the race is Double Vision, trained at Allendale East by David Peckham for the Nineofus Syndicate.
By Fernando Bale out of city-winning stayer Midnight Elsa, Double Vision is a litter brother to Along The Line, Midnight Offer and Midnight Affair – all first-up winners at Sandown Park, Bathurst and Richmond.