Elson’s Young Guns on the path to Rockhampton Cup

By Josh Spasaro

Cody’s Star was so dominant over 510 metres in his first look at Rockhampton that Sunshine Coast trainer Travis Elson thought, ‘he might as well have a go at the Young Guns’.

And, with four straight victories – the past three at the Central Queensland track - the two-year-old dog is the one to beat in the $7,900 Final over 407 metres on Wednesday night.

In his first start at Rockhampton, Cody’s Star won by six-and-a-quarter lengths over 510 metres, saluting in 30 seconds flat.

Then two victories over 407 metres followed, again a convincing seven-and-a-half length winner, crossing the line in 23.30 seconds on February 4.

And, in his heat he also won well, he was three-and-a-quarter lengths ahead in a time of 23.34 seconds last Wednesday night.

“He’s deadset a 500 metre dog. I took him up there over 510 metres the first week and he blitzed them,” Elson said.

“The Young Guns just happened to be on the next week. I wasn’t aiming him for that, but I thought ‘he’s in the right age bracket, let’s give him a go’.”

If all goes to plan and Cody’s Star can prevail from the one box on Wednesday night, Elson will aim him for the Rockhampton Cup, with the heats on April 15. 

“I just want to get him up there for a look. We’ve got the Cup coming up there. These country Cups are $75,000 (to the winner) – you can’t sneeze at that,” he said.

“He’s always shown a lot of promise as a pup and he’s just coming together now. And, a bit of country racing will give him a bit more confidence.

“We’ve tried the past couple of years for that one and the Townsville Cup. So, I thought I might get up there early this year and give a couple of dogs a good look at the track for it.

“We got second with Bear’s Bullet a couple of years ago. And, I had two in the Final last year with no luck, with Super Scrub and Speedy Scrub.

“We’ll go up with hopefully a team of four or five and have a go at the Cup again this year.”

Elson said Cody’s Star drew ideally, to start from the one, after he was clever in the way he used the two lane last week.

“He loves the rail. He couldn’t draw any better. He’ll literally take off the paint all the way around,” he said.

“He’s a great little railer.”

Cody’s Star – named after Elson’s son Cody – is well-bred by Fernando Bale and out of Magic Miss, who won 10 races from 123 starts.

Elson raced and bred with Magic Miss.

“We only had the one litter with her. They were a handy litter. Cody’s Star is the standout,” he said.

“Herself on the racetrack, she was a good bitch. She raced from 395 up to 710 metres.”

Elson was delighted to find a home for Magic Miss on Monday.

“You won’t believe it. I just sent her to the GAP. She just got a home,” he said.

Elson also thinks the litter brother of Cody’s Star, Quick Shot, can finish in the placings from the two box on Wednesday night.

The fellow two-year-old produced a gutsy performance to finish third in his Young Guns heat from the seven lane, crossing the line in 23.87 seconds.

“If they don’t run into each other, I think Cody’s Star is the better dog,” Elson said.

“But, I could take Cody’s Star out of that race and where Quick Shot is drawn, I think he could win the race.

“He doesn’t like an outside box and he drew the outside last week and the run was phenomenal.

“From where he was second-last to get third, if you watch a couple of strides after the post, he was chasing down the leader.”

Elson also plans to aim Quick Shot at the Rockhampton Cup.

“We’ll give him a go at the Cup. The goal is to get him a 500 metre race after the Young Guns,” he said.

“Both of those boys are really good chasers.

“We’ve got a lot of young pups coming through at the moment. 

“I’m three hours to The Q. I’m five-and-a-half hours to Rocky. So Rocky is not that big of a stretch for us to go.

“I’m going to try and educate a few young dogs up there as a process along the way to the Cup.”

Meanwhile, Elson said he was proud of the effort of Pop’s Maestro to finish sixth in the Group 1 Gold Bullion Final at Q2 Parklands on February 5.

But, he added the two-year-old dog will have some time off in the coming weeks.

“A couple of weeks leading into the Gold Bullion, I thought he probably wasn’t going as well as he was,” he said.

“I thought we’d probably not have a go at it. And, then how luck changes.

“We put him in and he wins the heat of it. But, unfortunately, he sustained an injury in the Gold Bullion Final.

“So, he’s going to be on the sideline for a little while. That was a bit of a bummer for us because he’s only a young dog, so I hold plenty of hope for him.

“He’s already back on the walking machine and out in the yard. Fingers crossed he can make a full recovery.”