A local drought could break Saturday and make for an unforgettable night for Mick Stanley, who’s daring to dream of capturing a long-awaited PETstock Ballarat Pacing Cup crown.
The trainer of Rock N Roll Doo caught up with Josh Jenkins on a special edition of Harnessed and shared just what it’d mean to him to capture the Cup, having gone so close in 2019 with Rackemup Tigerpie.
“It’d mean a lot,” he said. “It’s been something I’ve been striving to do to get back with a live chance since Rackemup came so close.
“The buzz of the crowd cheering on the local horse coming down the straight that night was nearly the best atmosphere I’ve ever experienced. It was something else hearing that crowd cheering on Rackemup.
“To get back and have another live chance, it’d be a real feather in the cap and I’d be really proud to win a home town cup.
Stanley said he hoped to be on course Saturday night, despite nursing three fractured transverse process bones in his vertebrae after being struck in the Bendigo Cup, “the most painful thing I’ve had to go through”.
“I’ll be doing my best to get there,” he said. “I’ve got my walking stick and if I progress the next three days like I have I’m confident I will get there and poke around and bark a few orders.
“(Rock N Roll Doo)’s really good. We identified what happened at Bendigo really early and he came home and licked his bin and was running around the next day. We knew that he’d taken no ill effect from that physically.
“He trialled really well, he just sat up and he sprinted really sharp, and he’s been in really good shape since.
“Ants has been down three times on his fast work days since then and he said he’s felt really well and felt really sharp in his fast work, and (partner Genevieve Browne)’s really happy with how he’s been eating and within himself during the week.
“Although we’ve had a little blip along the way as far as Bendigo, apart from that the horse is really well and the preparation is still going like we wanted it to.”
Ballarat club CEO Paul Rowse also joined Jenkins, watch the special edition of Harnessed below.