Rockhampton trainer has a soft spot for Speakeasy

By Josh Spasaro

Country Cup-winning trainer Darren Taylor says he has a soft spot for Speakeasy because he is owned by his son Declan.

The dog turns three on May 7 and he is looking for his first win at his eighth start.

He will line up over 407 metres at Rockhampton on Wednesday night.

After overcoming some fitness setbacks, Taylor has kept Speakeasy in his kennels in the hope he can find some form for the 24-year-old Declan.

“Because my son owns him, I’ve shown a bit of favouritism,” Taylor said.

“Declan comes down and helps me at the kennels every morning. He loves his dogs. He’s always looking for dogs to buy.

“He’s always here with me of a morning. We share the race day duties. Sometimes he’ll go over (to the track) and I’ll stay at home.

“Or, I’ll go over. It just depends. He’s a good kid.”

That’s not to say Speakeasy has no talent.

In his last start – first-up after a 178-day spell – he finished third also over 407 metres last Wednesday night.

After getting caught up in some early traffic, Speakeasy showed some promise on the home straight, finishing third at the line.

“He’s getting better with his starts. He’s actually going a bit better than I thought he would,” Taylor said.

“On Wednesday last week that (good start) was probably what brought him undone. He just got tangled up with Travis Elson’s Blazing Early and a couple of other dogs.

“But, I really like the way he found the line. He really hit it hard.”

Bouldercombe-based conditioner Taylor added if it wasn’t for some health challenges, Speakeasy – to start from box eight on Wednesday night – would have more starts to his name.

“He can run, but he’s just got a few issues,” he said.

“And, the injuries probably haven’t helped him. That’s why he’s (almost) three years old and only had seven starts.

“He’s drawn a bit on the wrong side of the track. I would’ve liked to have seen him draw a lot closer to the rail.”

Taylor acquired Speakeasy from Longlea trainer Ian Garland in Central Victoria.

“I’m good mates with Ian. I’ve got a fair few dogs off Ian over the past couple of years,” he said.

“It originated from a dog called Barcia Bullet. He came up here early on in his career and we kept in contact.

“He knows what sort of dogs we need up in this region. He’ll ring up and say ‘Darren, I’ve got a dog. Do you want to buy him?

"That’s how we’ve known him. We’ve stayed in contact.”

Meanwhile, Taylor was content with this month’s Country Cup champion Dish Liquor’s first start since her triumph in the $18,780 feature at Q2 Parklands on February 5.

She finished fourth from box four over 407 metres back at Rockhampton on Sunday night.

“I took it pretty easy on her. We were in two minds what to do with her,” he said.

“We thought we just needed to try and keep her up to the mark. So, we put her in that 400 metre race. She was probably good enough to win it, but if you saw where she drew there was a dog who carved in.

“She came out with them and kept finding trouble everywhere she went. I wasn’t disappointed in the run at all. I was happy. And, she bounced back. She’s playing in the paddock.

“We’ll just poke along with her and push on with her to the Rocky Cup. It’ll be the Wildcard and Rocky Cup with her sister (Scotch Rocket).”