Cover image courtesy of Ashlea Brennan
Wagga trainer Scott Spackman will rise early on Saturday morning, driving the 460-odd kilometres to Rosehill Racecourse with Rocket Tiger in tow, his first runner in the G2 Silver Slipper S. The 2-year-old gelding burst all expectations on Boxing Day when he won at Randwick against a flurry of city horses.
“He’ll get us into the Golden Slipper doing it this way,” Spackman said. “I am very confident this horse won’t let me down.”
Rocket Tiger is undefeated in two lifetime starts. In early December, he won a handicap at Canberra by 0.5l in a fashion that Spackman says was nothing short of impressive.
“I keep coming back to that win,” the trainer says. “He won it in really good time, and he has this fight in him. Tommy Berry found that out at Randwick (in the Boxing Day Plate) when he tried to play cat and mouse with us (on Vandoula Lass, who finished second).”
Rocket Tiger and Kathy O'Hara | Image courtesy of Ashlea Brennan
Roots run deep through Larneuk
Rocket Tiger is owned by Scott Penfold and father Noel Penfold, long-time horseman and owner of Murray Darling Fisheries. The Penfold family has a strong association with Neville Murdoch’s Larneuk Stud, which is tucked away in pretty country southwest of Euroa, Victoria.
The farm stands four stallions, among them Cluster, and the Penfolds support Larneuk heavily with their broodmares. It’s been an excellent alliance for Spackman too, who trained O’ So Hazy (O’Lonhro) to five wins for the Penfolds and Murdoch, including the 2017 Country Championships Qualifier at Wagga.
Noel Penfold is also chasing the same race in Wagga this weekend. In addition to Rocket Tiger in the Silver Slipper, the family has Tocatchacod (Cluster) running in the Country Championships Qualifier at Wagga. In the same race is Rocket Man's half-sister Takissacod, trained by Norm Loy for different ownership.
Spackman knows the family well. He trained Rocket Tiger’s half-sister, Takookacod (Moshe), to five wins and a handful of placings from 2017 to September last year.
“She could have been anything,” he said, “but two wind operations got the better of her.”
Spackman has been handed a second bite of the cherry with Rocket Tiger.
“He’s not much more than 15.1 hands, but he’s about 465kg heading into Saturday,” the trainer said. “Kathy O’Hara will ride him and she knows him, but he’s also a push-button sort-of horse. He’s tough, and Kathy understands that because she learned it that day at Randwick.”
A life changer
The Boxing Day win changed a lot of things for Spackman. He had 76 text messages waiting on his phone that afternoon, but he also says the city victory opened doors, and all his plans with the young Rocket Tiger changed for the better. While they were pointed at a Wellington Boot or G3 Black Opal, suddenly the Silver Slipper was on the cards.
“He’s a top little horse,” Spackman said. “If he gets a challenge, he loves a fight. And he’s had that in both runs already.”
“He’s a top little horse. If he gets a challenge, he loves a fight. And he’s had that in both runs already.” - Scott Spackman
Rocket Tiger will face the ominously named Four Moves Ahead (Snitzel) on Saturday, a filly trained by John Sargent and a winner on heavy going in her only start in early January. She is a half-sister to Group 3 winner Emeralds (Sebring). Additionally, the field will feature Paulele (Dawn Approach {Ire}), a Godolphin colt that is two-from-two at Moonee Valley and Randwick, and out of the two-time stakes-producing mare Chatoyant (Flying Spur).
“We’re giving it a crack,” Spackman said. “I think that’s our biggest trouble here in the bush, we get scared of having a go. Sometimes you get a bit sick of coming home with your tail between your legs, so you just have to back your ability and crack on.”
