Harness racing produces many great stories. A win for Show Me The Moolah in Monday’s Group 3 $30,000 Woodlands Stud Horsham Trotters Cup would provide another.
Show Me The Moolah was bred by and is raced and trained by Janet Exell – a familiar face in the Wimmera, and in particular Horsham, where the family name is well known.
Exell has only been training a relatively short while, having stepped up to continue a family tradition when her father, Ken, died in 2016.
He had more than six decades in the sport, driving his first winner in Horsham in 1954 and going on to win Horsham trainer of the year award and have the Horsham horse of the year.
Janet had her first win in 2018-19 and has built up a handy team, with last season being her most successful to date with 10 wins. She is on target to do even better this season with five wins already on the board at a strike rate of 19 per cent.
Show Me The Moolah has been her most successful horse with 10 wins and it would be special if the eight-year-old provided her with her biggest win to date in her hometown Horsham Trotters Cup.
The gelding, who is by former Horsham favourite and 1997 Horsham Trotters Cup winner Allawart Ray, has had a number of tries in country cups, with seconds in the past two Boort Trotters Cup being the closest he has been to landing one.
They include his last start on Sunday, when he chased home Double Helix. A repeat of that run on the bigger Horsham track, where he is a two-time winner, would have him close again.
Show Me The Moolah will need to run right up to his best though in a line-up with plenty of depth. Inter Dominion finalist Hatchback shares the back mark of 10m with last-start winner One Over All, who also contested the Inter Dominion series, and Bullion Harry, the winner of his past two starts. Smart four-year-old Hautacam also shapes as contender from the pole.
The Cup could easily provide a new leader in the Maori’s Idol Trotting Championship. Dont Care, Double Helix and Keayang Livana lead on five points, with Horsham starters Show The Moolah, Victree Hill and Hatchback looming large two points back.
