Quest For Pace back to best for Wildcard heats

By Josh Spasaro

Just like his name, Quest For Pace was born to run.

The four-year-old brindle dog was about to be retired, but he couldn’t keep still.

And, after a 128-day spell, he has enjoyed an excellent 2026 so far, with six wins from 10 starts.

Trainer Ricky Hassall has been delighted with his form heading into the second Rockhampton Wildcard heat over 510 metres on Wednesday night.

“He had prior injuries and they just kept re-occurring. So, he had a four-month spell,” Hassall said.

“I was basically going to retire the dog. And, he started running around in the paddock.

“I had a look and I thought ‘I’ll put him back into work’. He hasn’t had an injury. He’s been sound as a bell.”

Hassall said Quest For Pace – who won in 20.05 seconds up the Capalaba straight last Wednesday – should be competitive back on a circle track from box two this week.

“He’ll give a good account of himself. He’s nicely boxed. I like where he’s drawn,” he said.

Quest For Pace now has 21 wins from 76 starts, with over $74,000 in career prizemoney.

After turning four on January 28, he is turning back time with his run of form to when he used to beat Melbourne Cup and Phoenix champion, Explicit, in the Victorian capital.

The Superior Panama and Quest For Glory chaser did this in his debut start at The Meadows on August 2 of 2023, beating the now-retired champion by half-a-length.

He followed that up a month later with a one-and-a-quarter length victory over the former kennel star for Jason Thompson.

“I bought him from Melbourne and he’d won five at The Meadows,” Hassall said.

“When he was a young dog, he raced against Explicit and he had a couple of wins over Explicit. But, Explicit went right on with it.

“The dam, Quest For Glory, I don’t know a great deal about her, but she was a good bitch. She was a prolific winner.”

Quest For Pace has now won his past three starts at Capalaba, where he is particularly strong inside the last 100 metres.

“He always seems to do that at Capalaba,” Hassall said.

The veteran chaser’s circle track form has also been good, winning three in a row over 407 and 457 metres at Rockhampton and Q1 Lakeside from February 22 to March 7.

“He’s over four years of age, but he’s racing in career-best form,” Hassall added.