Harness racing trainer Colin Holloway tapped into his three-year-old’s formidable potential to claim Tuesday night’s coveted Terang Guineas and in doing so cracked a track record.
Co-owned by his wife, Heather, and son Brett, who drove the winning three-year-old, King Of Rocknroll is Holloway’s only horse in work and he brought the Sebastopol trainer joy in the age race classic.
Of the $14,000 spent to purchase the colt by Rock N Roll Heaven out of Fast And Flighty at the 2014 Australian Pacing Gold Melbourne sales, $11,200 has already been reclaimed in stakes.
Holloway said he and Ross Sugars “looked at about 16 horses” at the sales and for various reasons, including being outbid, were drawn to this colt, a “nice type who came within my price range”.
It wasn’t smooth sailing though, with Holloway discovering a “cricket ball lump at the back of his chest”, which proved to be varicose veins that required surgery. The vet recommended the horse be held back from racing until he was a three-year-old.
Holloway tested him at two trials in May 2015, when King Of Rocknroll won at Maryborough after running second at Ballarat to Heavens Trend, but a minor injury meant a spell before he returned for a further two trials on October 24 and November 2.
King Of Rocknroll debuted at Terang on November 17 and ran second. Three starts later his $7000 Vicbred bonus was secured when he won by 1.2m at Maryborough on Christmas Eve. A tilt at the VHRSC Victoria Derby was unsuccessful, but Holloway said the gelding “was tired” and so the “throw at the stumps” for a Group 1 “didn’t work out”.
After a spell of six weeks King Of Rocknroll won his seven-horse Maryborough trial by 50m, and started Tuesday night’s competitive Terang Guineas a $2.70 favourite. In the running, Brett Holloway worked around Im Wrongly Accused in the early stages and held off a fast finishing Senor Macray in the straight to win the bulk of the $7575 stakes.
“Once he got to the front I thought he’d take some crossing,” he said. “That other horse did come at him, but they ran a 1:57.5 age record. In retrospect, he did a reasonably good job and should be improved for the run.
“I might give him a run at Maryborough next week, if he does well then we will look to run him at Ballarat in the race called the Colin and Heather Holloway Classic. It would be nice to win our own race, but whether he runs will depend on his next start.”
And the good times could roll on for the former Ballarat Trotting Club chief executive, who bought King Of Rocknroll’s half-sister, a filly by Bettors Delight out of Fast And Flighty, for $22,000 at this year’s APG Melbourne sales.
Michael Howard