Dale double will bring up win No.800 and top off great season
By Chris Roots
Matt Dale’s first full season training out of Goulburn has hit the mark. Highlighted by a Kosciuszko win from Front Page, Dale has produced 38 winners but, importantly, the future has been on show in the past month.
Cavalier Charles is likely to join Front Page on the Kosciuszko hunt after winning during the Grafton carnival, and No Drama, a new inclusion to the stable, won at Canterbury on Wednesday, as Dale closes in on 800 career wins.
Goulburn trainer Matt Dale believes Boston Rocks will improve on firmer ground at Randwick on Saturday.Credit: Getty
“We have had a good end to the season, and it could continue at Randwick on Saturday,” said Dale as he looks to go from 798 wins to 800 with Boston Rocks and Field The Moment.
“We have set ourselves up at Goulburn, and we have new stables on the way from Racing NSW, and there is a bit of quality around in the team as well.”
No Drama and Boston Rocks have joined Dale this preparation, and he believes both could develop into open-class sprinters. Boston Rocks is already a three-time winner and has appeared to save his best for dry tracks in his eight-start career.
“He had a couple of plain runs on wet tracks before he came to me and did the same on a very wet track first up,” Dale said. “It looks like it’s going to be drier on Saturday, so I think this run will tell us a lot about him because he is showing good signs.”
Boston Rocks’ profile has resulted in him starting favourite or second pick in betting at the majority of his starts and Dale was surprised to get the chance to train him.
“You never want to take someone else’s horse, but the owners said he is definitely moving [from Nathan Doyle] for whatever reason, so I took him,” Dale said.
Matt Dale.Credit: Getty
“He can’t run in the Kosciuszko this year because of when he came to me, and I don’t think he is seasoned enough for it yet anyway. He has a good record and there is no rush with him. We want to get him back winning, and look to build with him into next year.
“He has got the ability, but he has to learn how to stretch out.
“A horse like [Boston Rocks] and No Drama are good ones to pick up. No Drama could be in Sydney in a couple of Saturdays, and Cavalier Charles has come through Grafton so well we might be in Sydney next week with him.”
Front Page will come back into the stable soon with a shot at a third consecutive Kosciuszko win or Sydney Stakes on the agenda, while Cavalier Charles will chase a third run in the $2 million country slot race on Everest day in October, after running fourth in the past two years.
“They are two horses that pick themselves in many ways; we just have to get them in the best condition possible,” Dale said. “It is a race as a country trainer you want to be a part of every year.”
Dale has also had plenty of success in the Highway Handicaps and will saddle favourite Field The Moment at Randwick on Saturday in a rare 1800m staying test. She is coming off a strong second behind Cranky Harry at Randwick two weeks ago, and is suited by the set weights conditions after winning only twice in her 23-start career.
“I set the mare for the mile Highway a couple of weeks ago, and she was very good but ran into a real smart one,” Dale said. “She has a poor winning strike rate, but she is in good form and will be very competitive.”
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