Walsh hopes to start new season on a high

By Glenn Davis

Trainer Nick Walsh starts the new season full of confidence and is hopeful former Victorian Milo Man will bounce back to his best form at Rockhampton on Thursday.

Milo Man and stable mate Kasinova Kid are both acceptors for the Open Handicap over 1100 metres but the latter is also a chance of starting at Eagle Farm on Saturday.

Walsh has a slight preference to starting Kasinova Kid on his home track.

“I’ve accepted with both in Rocky but Kasinova Kid could still run in a Benchmark race at Eagle Farm and travel down with Bollente,” Walsh said.

“But, I favour staying at home with Kasinova Kid.

“He’s going super and I couldn’t have been happier with his last run when fourth in the Mackay Lightning.

“I think Milo Man might have an edge on him though, as there’s more upside to him.”

Walsh is confident Milo Man has recovered from a foot injury which contributed to the gelding’s first-up poor effort when he tailed a field of nine in a 1200 metre Class 6 event at Callaghan Park on July 7.

“He had a foot abscess a week before his first-up run and I thought he was over it but he pulled up sore in the off front after his last run,” Walsh said.

“I gave him a barrier trial since and he was a little tender but I’ve been monitoring him closely and I’ve taken some bloods and he seems okay.

“He won five straight last time in before he was spelled and he trialled really well before he was troubled with the foot abscess first-up.”

Walsh has only been training for four years and finished in the top 10 for the first time in the Queensland provincial trainers’ premiership last season.

He finished season 2022-23 with an amazing winning strike rate of 43.1 per cent.

“I’ve just had my best season with 47 wins from only 109 starters to finish ninth, which I’m pretty happy about,” he said.

Meanwhile, Walsh has booked Toowoomba apprentice Jake Molloy to partner Bollente in a No Metropolitan Wins race at Eagle Farm.

Walsh believes Bollente, who finished second in the Battle Of The Bush Final at Eagle Farm two years ago, was an unlucky fourth in the Rockhampton Newmarket on July 14.

“I’ve booked Jake to ride him at Eagle Farm so he can pull three kilos off him,” Walsh said.

“He was unlucky in the Newmarket when he got out too late and was just beaten.

“I then backed him up a week later in the Mackay Newmarket when he ran fourth again but he got back a bit further than we expected that day.

“He had the car park when he ran fourth in the Lightning at Mackay last start and it wasn’t an ideal run.”