{"id":327307,"date":"2025-08-08T07:32:12","date_gmt":"2025-08-08T07:32:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/327307\/"},"modified":"2025-08-08T07:32:12","modified_gmt":"2025-08-08T07:32:12","slug":"trainer-troy-pascoe-reveals-how-flash-aah-changed-his-life-after-divorce-and-near-bankruptcy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/327307\/","title":{"rendered":"Trainer Troy Pascoe reveals how Flash Aah changed his life after divorce and near bankruptcy"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

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

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Then along came old boy Flash Aah<\/a>\u2019s shock victory at $31 odds in the $250,000 Ipswich Cup<\/a> (2150m) on June 21 and, suddenly, Pascoe had a spring in his step again.<\/p>\n

The $145,000 winner\u2019s cheque helped ease the financial burden on Pascoe but when his 10-year-old gelding broke a 1000-day winning drought<\/a>, it meant so much more than just the money.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor how long he\u2019d been out of the winner\u2019s stall and coming back from injury setbacks, I don\u2019t think people realise how big a feat that was for the horse,\u201d Pascoe said about the galloper that has won more than $687,000 in prizemoney over an awe-inspiring journey.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Justice can be served for husband and wife in Townsville Cup<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

Pascoe then opens up about the backstory to Flash Aah\u2019s story, the one that the general public don\u2019t know about when the TV cameras are fixed on a beaming trainer after an important victory. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d been through a divorce and I was pretty much bankrupt,\u201d he revealed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was definitely tough. It\u2019s hard to get out of bed for horses that are going out to the bush and finishing midfield.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never lost the love for training but it is always hard when you\u2019re down and out and you\u2019ve got nothing really to look forward to.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know if I\u2019m any better off in the financial part but mentally it (Flash Aah\u2019s win in the Listed<\/a> Ipswich Cup) does help.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was so surreal and it took about a month for it to sink in.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

He said the veteran gelding\u2019s coat was glowing and he looked a \u201cmillion dollars\u201d after a freshen-up following his sixth placing in the $300,000 Listed Caloundra Cup<\/a> (2400m) on July 5. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019ll be pick of the yard if he gets anything on Saturday,\u201d Pascoe joked.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Fairytale Queensland mare recovering from \u2018toxic\u2019 staph infection<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cWe do want him to have a good life after racing,\u201d said Pascoe, one of eight different trainers who have guided the son of Lucas Cranach<\/a> since November 2018.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been good for the owners and he\u2019s been life-changing for me.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s like a big Labrador. You don\u2019t even need a lead on him. He just follows you around, knows his routine and dawdles along beside you.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/a><\/p>\n

Then it\u2019ll be nose to the grindstone for Pascoe but at least his name has been put in lights, albeit briefly, thanks to Flash Aah\u2019s remarkable victory on that overcast winter\u2019s day in Ipswich.<\/p>\n

Originally published as \u2018It was hard to get out of bed\u2019: Toowoomba trainer Troy Pascoe reveals how Flash Aah changed his life after divorce and near bankruptcy<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As the bills mounted and a draining divorce took its toll on Troy Pascoe, the Toowoomba trainer questioned…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":327308,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4107],"tags":[118000,89106,117994,117991,118001,117998,117997,117992,118003,118002,89116,89977,89096,83842,89104,1071,117993,79,117999,16,15,117990,117995,117996],"class_list":{"0":"post-327307","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-racing","8":"tag-back-tears-trying","9":"tag-daniel-pace","10":"tag-draining-divorce","11":"tag-epic-victory","12":"tag-fellow-part-owner","13":"tag-injury-setbacks","14":"tag-joy-ride","15":"tag-lucas-cranach","16":"tag-overcast-winter","17":"tag-pat-fulton","18":"tag-punters-racing-queensland","19":"tag-racenet-race-previews","20":"tag-racenet-racing-queensland","21":"tag-racenet-saturday-racing","22":"tag-racenet-trainers","23":"tag-racing","24":"tag-ron-stewart","25":"tag-sports","26":"tag-trophy-presentation","27":"tag-uk","28":"tag-united-kingdom","29":"tag-veteran-galloper","30":"tag-veteran-gelding","31":"tag-veteran-jockey"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114991985151172437","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=327307"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327307\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/327308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=327307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=327307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=327307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}