Taylor hoping ‘luck pendulum’ swings back his way in Rocky Wildcard

By Pat McLeod

Darren Taylor is hoping a week of mixed fortunes swings to positive when his youngster, Who Goes There, contests the Rockhampton Wildcard Final on Wednesday night.

Taylor’s turbulent week began on Sunday when champion veteran, Say Some Words, bowed out from racing at her 94^th start in a straight track race at Capalaba.

Say Some Words had been the first emergency for Wednesday’s Wildcard and would have gained a start when Ken Boody was forced to scratch quality chaser Ring Me.

However, the news wasn’t all bad for Taylor.

He also had the second reserve, Who Goes There, who will now join the field in the four box.

And, the positive news continued on Monday when Rattlin’ Grace won race two at Bundaberg, the Bundaberg Maiden 1000 Final over 460 metres.

The dog is trained by Bargara baker John Kuhn, but is owned by a syndicate that is a partnership between Taylor and Kuhn.

Ironically the Bundaberg program was washed out after race two, which swung Taylor’s ‘luck pendulum’ back to negative.

He was hoping to give Back Monaro a fitness hit-out as a lead-up to a possible Rockhampton Cup assault.

That plan is now in the balance.

However, overall Taylor took a glass half full approach to his swaying fortunes on the wet drive back to his Rockhampton kennels on Monday afternoon.

"Say Some Words, we had hoped to race her for just a few more weeks, through to the Rockhampton Cup race day, which was to be her swansong," Taylor said. 

“She has been a great campaigner and will be hard to replace. But, she will stay at home and go off to the brood bitch kennels.

“We have a few sires in mind for her and John (Kuhn) was saying that after the Maiden 1000 win we have a little bit of money in the kitty to go hunting for a straw for her.

“We already have had inquiries from people asking if there would be any pups for sale from her. We won't keep the whole litter. We will sell some. One has got to go back to George (Farrugia). He said he didn't want one, but one is going to him.

“George owns the dog (Say Some Words) and has given her to us to breed from. He has always been good to me.”

Taylor has had a successful owner-trainer relationship with Farrugia, a prominent owner and breeder based in Melbourne.

In fact, Farrugia also owns Wildcard hope Who Goes There, who Taylor believes has ability, but possibly more-so over a longer distance than the Wildcard journey of 510 metres. 

“She is a funny little dog,” Taylor said of Who Goes There.

“She does not have a brilliant turn of foot, but she just keeps coming.

“I was really rapt in her run in the heats last week. She gave them a long start and was really making ground late. She is definitely giving me the opinion that she is starting to look for more ground.

“Is she good enough to win this race on Wednesday? She would need to find a few lengths early, which I don't think she can. But, if things go wrong and a few dogs get tangled up, if she is close enough, she is definitely strong enough.

“She's still only young, very young compared to some of these dogs, just the 17 starts. We possibly threw her to the wolves a little bit to see what she could do.

“But, she is coming along well and I am sure will be better this week.”

The winner of the Wildcard not only picks up $16,000, but also gets direct passage through to the Final of the $112,000 Rockhampton Cup on April 26.

The Wildcard is dominated by the Ken Boody kennel, with four runners.

Taylor believes the biggest danger in the race is Boody’s Venice Bale, the former Victorian chaser.

“The one that really catches my eye is Venice Bale,” he said.

“If she is close enough, she will blow them all away. She has got the best finish out of all the dogs in that race.”