Cornish-Gaskin start the local party on Echuca Cup Day

Mar 7, 2021

IT TOOK just three races for a local trainer to stand in the spotlight at Sunday's Moama Bowling Club Echuca Cup meeting.

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The Cornish/Gaskin stable saddled up Cape Mount for the $35,000 bet365 Odds Drift Protector Handicap over 2100 m and watched the four-year-old gelding take over the lead — and the race — in the first 100 m.

Ridden by top jockey Craig Newitt, Cape Mount was badly placed in gate eight, putting him on the extreme outside of the eight-horse field; but by the time they passed the finish post for the first time, he was a length clear.

You might not have heard that call if you were within 250 m of the post, as breeder owners Jude Mulholland and Steve Burke were screaming their heads off as the field swept past.

But that was nothing compared to the finish as their horse left the field flatfooted in its wake, storming down the straight and opening up a better than three-length lead.

When it hit the line, Lancaster farrier Sue erupted — almost certainly losing the crunch shots from her phone video as she threw her arms in the air in excitement.

“I did warn people we might be a little loud and obnoxious if our horse won — and we were,” she shouted.

“We bought his mother in foal and he has now had two wins for us from 12 starts — but he has also knocked up four seconds and two thirds, meaning he has been in the money eight times in a dozen outings.”

Trained by the Gaskin/Cornish stable, Donna Gaskin said after the race Cape Mount had faced some major challenges in his career — including bad back trouble — but was a “real trier” who just kept plugging away.

“This prep he has gone one from six for us and not showing any signs of slowing down, of needing a break for a while, so we’ll keeping going with him until he tells us ‘stop, that’s enough’,” Gaskin said.

“He’s fit, he’s tough and he is a very easy horse to train, so we will put him in the paddock tonight and find a good race at a good track to keep him honest.”

The highlight of the win for trainers and owners was Newitt following instructions to the letter — get to the front as fast as possible and then just keep on going.

“And that’s exactly what happened, and if people were not quite sure about how simple, yet brilliant, this strategy is (for those who had missed it in previous runs), Cape Mount displayed a stunning burst of footspeed that left the others eating his dust,” Gaskin said.