As the bills mounted and a draining divorce took its toll on Troy Pascoe, the Toowoomba trainer questioned whether it was all worth it.

The cruel arithmetics of racing had left battling trainer Pascoe facing bankruptcy and he was struggling to get out of bed in the morning.

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Then along came old boy Flash Aah’s shock victory at $31 odds in the $250,000 Ipswich Cup (2150m) on June 21 and, suddenly, Pascoe had a spring in his step again.

The $145,000 winner’s cheque helped ease the financial burden on Pascoe but when his 10-year-old gelding broke a 1000-day winning drought, it meant so much more than just the money.

“For how long he’d been out of the winner’s stall and coming back from injury setbacks, I don’t think people realise how big a feat that was for the horse,” Pascoe said about the galloper that has won more than $687,000 in prizemoney over an awe-inspiring journey.

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Pascoe then opens up about the backstory to Flash Aah’s story, the one that the general public don’t know about when the TV cameras are fixed on a beaming trainer after an important victory.

“I’d been through a divorce and I was pretty much bankrupt,” he revealed.

“It was definitely tough. It’s hard to get out of bed for horses that are going out to the bush and finishing midfield.

“I’ve never lost the love for training but it is always hard when you’re down and out and you’ve got nothing really to look forward to.

“I don’t know if I’m any better off in the financial part but mentally it (Flash Aah’s win in the Listed Ipswich Cup) does help.

“To win a race like that means everything and I think it showed in my Channel 7 interview when I was choking back tears trying to talk about it.

“It was so surreal and it took about a month for it to sink in.”

Pascoe and his mum Sue are part-owners of Flash Aah, who will race in an Open Handicap (1400m) at Eagle Farm on Saturday as the longest shot ($26) in the 10-horse field.

He said the veteran gelding’s coat was glowing and he looked a “million dollars” after a freshen-up following his sixth placing in the $300,000 Listed Caloundra Cup (2400m) on July 5.

“He’ll be pick of the yard if he gets anything on Saturday,” Pascoe joked.

But sadly, all good things must come to an end and Flash Aah is likely to be retired after he runs in the $125,000 Toowoomba Cup (2000m) on September 27.

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“We do want him to have a good life after racing,” said Pascoe, one of eight different trainers who have guided the son of Lucas Cranach since November 2018.

“He’s been good for the owners and he’s been life-changing for me.

“He’s like a big Labrador. You don’t even need a lead on him. He just follows you around, knows his routine and dawdles along beside you.”

The Flash Aah joy ride will soon be over for people like Pascoe and fellow part-owner Pat Fulton, the 73-year-old jewellery store owner who flew 3000km from Darwin to watch him win the Ipswich Cup.

Then it’ll be nose to the grindstone for Pascoe but at least his name has been put in lights, albeit briefly, thanks to Flash Aah’s remarkable victory on that overcast winter’s day in Ipswich.

Originally published as ‘It was hard to get out of bed’: Toowoomba trainer Troy Pascoe reveals how Flash Aah changed his life after divorce and near bankruptcy