Ken Casellas | PACEPIX
Most events for square gaiters in WA are made up of fields of veteran trotters, so it will be an unusual situation to have a three-year-old competing against some of these oldstagers in the $21,000 Book Your TABtouch Punters Club Table Trot over 2130m at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
The youngster is Cashout, an inexperienced trotter who has raced only eight times in Victoria for two wins and two placings.
Cashout’s seven rivals have contested a total of 737 races (an average of 105), and they include 11-year-old Dark Secret, nine-year-olds Aldebaran Sundown and Nickys Son, three seven-year-olds and one five-year-old.
Hayden King, who recently purchased Cashout from Victoria, cast some light on the prospects of the Queensland-bred gelding who is by American sire Centurion Atm and is out of the New Zealand-bred mare Hiona, when he said: “This is an achievable assignment for him. It’s one of the most sedentary trotters Friday night races you’ve seen in recent memory.
“Though he has galloped on occasions, I was impressed with his manners in a few of his starts when he had every excuse to gallop, including his most recent start when he was tightened up in limited room on a couple of occasions, and he performed admirably.
Cashout’s latest appearance was at Geelong on June 13 when he got away smartly from barrier four, raced in the one-out, one-back position before moving to the three pegs position, a spot he vacated 500m from home. He then surged to the front 120m from the post and won easily from In Redwhiteandblue, covering the 1609m in 2.0.8.
His previous success was in a1720m mobile event at Melton four starts earlier when he began from the inside of the back line and raced four back on the pegs before finishing strongly to beat the $1.75 favourite Exasperation by a metre, rating 2.2.1.
Cashout is the ninth and last foal out of Hiona Mountain, whose only success in 12 starts was in a minor event at Geelong in 2008. Hiona Mountain’s only significant performer was her first foal, Drunken Maniac.
Drunken Maniac raced 54 times for eleven wins, 19 placings and $74,081, and it is interesting that he has eleven starts as a three-year-old in 2013-14, and winning at two of the first three of those runs.
The Nigel Johns-trained Luvaflair, and Dreambigaimhigh, trained by Bruce Stanley, look the most serious rivals for Cashout.
Luvaflair, driven by Donald Harper, notched her 25TH win at her latest outing, when she finished powerfully to beat Yankee Lover by three lengths, rating 1.59.4 over 2130m. Dreambigaimhigh, to be handled by Ryan Warwick, has finished solidly to win at his past two appearances, both in 2503m stands at Gloucester Park.
Cashout is prepared by Ravenswood trainer Jocelyn Young, who has engaged Kyle Symington to drive the gelding, who will begin from the No. 5 barrier. Having a trotter in her stables has revived memories for Young, who said: “A trotter, Im Not Eyre, gave me my first winner as a trainer when he beat Taimate Angus (driven by younger sister Madeliene) at Pinjarra (on April 29, 2019).
Young and King are hoping that Cashout will give them their second Gloucester Park win this week — after Young drove I Like What I See to an effortless all-the-way victory in a 2130m event on Tuesday night.
King recently bought the New South Wales-bred I Like What I See, a seven-year-old mare by Four Starzzz Shark who was produced in fine shape for her West Australian debut.