Winter hopeful Rothgo makes low key return

By Glenn Davis

Veteran trainer John Thomas hasn’t given up on a Queensland Racing Carnival campaign for talented sprinter Rothgo, who makes a low-key return at Beaudesert on Saturday.

The 72-year-old Thomas had planned for Rothgo to make his comeback in the city before a barrier mishap at Toowoomba earlier this month.

“I put him in a barrier trial at Toowoomba but he slipped coming out of the gates and just cantered around at the tail of the field,” Thomas said.

“I thought he’d lead in the trial so I’ve had to find a race for him to start off now.”

Rothgo - a Georgina Cartwright mount - will line up in the QTIS Three-Year-Old Benchmark 65 Handicap over 1100 metres.

It will be his first start since finishing fourth in a field of six behind Majorelle in a 1100 metre Class 3 Handicap at Ipswich in early December.

Rothgo won his first two starts as a two-year-old which earned the son of Rothesay a shot at the Group 3 Ken Russell Memorial Classic at the Sunshine Coast in May last year.

However, Rothgo, who was in the market to topple the powerful stables of Ciaron Maher, Chris Waller and Annabel Neasham, ran the worst race of his career, tailing off last.

Thomas later discovered Rothgo was suffering the effects of a virus and he was immediately spelled after the Ken Russell.

Rothgo was bred by the Benjamin family who hail from Glamorgan in South West Queensland.

The Benjamin family knocked backed a $450,000 offer from Hong Kong last year despite him passing a stringent vet test and passing all x-rays.

Thomas has a lease arrangement and he shares in the ownership of Rothgo with his close friends.

Thomas has a small team of six horses in work at Toowoomba and has known the Benjamins since his days working in the Central Queensland coal mines.

Thomas worked in coal mines for 25 years, mostly at Emerald in Central Queensland, before taking a voluntary redundancy in 1999 and moved to Toowoomba.

“He’s a good horse but I can’t pinpoint why he didn’t come up last time,” Thomas said.

“His first two runs back at Eagle Farm when he ran fourth were very good but he then failed at his next three runs so I spelled him.

“It’s a bit of a mystery but his failures coincided with his regular work rider breaking her leg and she couldn’t ride him work.”

Thomas expects a strong performance from Rothgo in his comeback and hopes it will be a stepping stone to the Queensland Racing Carnival.

“The plan is to get him back to town but I’m still trying to work him out,” Thomas said.

“We’ll probably aim for the winter three-year-old races with him but it all depends how he goes at Beaudesert.”