Mark Young vividly recalls his thoughts when Rosemont Stud’s Anthony Mithen told him he had been chosen as the trainer for Rock’n’rollrock.
They were not positive.
Like most members of the Rosemont racing squad, the son of Toorak Toff did his pre-training with Young, who also prepares his own team of around 14 at Anakie, near Geelong, but he was not one he ever dreamt of keeping.
“He had a few problems as a baby,” Young recalled. “He had troubles with his stomach and he used to scour a lot, so he didn’t get to go to the sales.
“He just looked weak and sort of fairly unassuming.
“Mitho came out one day and said, ‘we’ll leave this one here and it can be yours’. I said to him ‘I don’t want it’.
“We’d done enough with him to say that he was going nowhere. But then we gave him four weeks off and brought him back, as we’ve been doing with a lot of babies – just giving them short spells, bringing them in and out – and he just kept on improving.
“He had to, but the improvement was amazing.”
It has resulted Rock’n’rollrock being given his chance at victory on the biggest stage in Australian racing at just his third start.
The gelding is one of the leading contenders for the $80,000 Murray Cox Handicap (1400m) that kicks off Saturday’s Flemington program.
He is a chance to go one better than another member of the Rosemont team that Young trains,Futura, who finished second at Flemington in the Listed Gibson Carmichael Stakes on July 9.
Like Rock’n’rollrock, Futura didn’t show a lot early in his education but has flourished under Young.
“He was a bit backward as a baby,” Young said. “We had him early and had him on the water walker and put him out just trying to strengthening him up.
“You couldn’t have been super-impressed with him early, but one thing he always looked like doing was stay. He had a massive action for a small horse and a really stout pedigree.”
A new way of approaching things with younger horses since moving to Anakie from his former long-time base of Colac has worked well for Young.
“Since we’ve been here we’ve been working them for six weeks, putting them out for four and bringing them back in another four,” Young said.
“Even the horses that are going to stay and are a bit immature, we take them through that stage, we don’t hurt them, but you get to know a hell of a lot more about them and we’re virtually a year in front, which is great.”
Rock’n’rollrock made his debut over 1300m on the Geelong synthetic surface on June 28, where he finished fourth, before returning to the same track and trip for a win on July 15.
He came from the second half of the field that day, as he will be required to do at Flemington, where he will start from the outside barrier in the field of 11 with Dean Yendall aboard.
“He’s drawn 11, but he’ll go back,” Young said. “He does need to get cover and relax early in his races to show the turn of foot that he’s obviously got.
“If he pressed forward and didn’t get cover he’d probably pull and leave it all in the first 600 (metres).
“This looks a nice race for him because it’s a nice time of year to progress from the country to the city for two-year-olds.
“But how much depth’s in this race, we won’t know for six months.”
Rock’n’rollrock shared the $6.50 third line with Ciaron Maher’s Loch Oir at 4pm Friday, which was headed by the Robbie Laing-trained So Si Bon at $3.50. Casta, from the Tony McEvoy stable, was the $5.50 second pick.
– racing.com
