Crick puts exciting addition on Rockhampton Cup path

By Josh Spasaro

When Wayne Crick picked up the phone to be asked about his interest in Breakout Lad, it was a no-brainer.

Immediately, he said he would buy the talented three-year-old who will start from box eight in the fifth Rockhampton Cup heat over 510 metres on Wednesday night.

On the other line was astute trainer Gregory Brennan, so the Ormeau conditioner knew he was being recommended a fast chaser.

And, the first impression was very promising.

Breakout Lad won his first start for Crick at Q2 Parklands last Thursday night, saluting in a 520 metre race in a formidable 29.66 seconds.

His winning margin was a dominant seven-and-three-quarter lengths.

“We bought him a month ago,” Crick confirmed.

“Greg Brennan had him. He had a lot of pups coming through. Greg rang me and asked if I was interested in buying him.

“He said ‘this thing is a serious dog’. And, I said ‘on your say-so mate, I’ll buy him’.

“It wasn’t too hard to think about when you’ve got a dog who’d only had 12 starts for seven wins.”

Crick was thrilled with Breakout Lad’s performance last week.

From box four, the black dog led at the first turn, before opening up a huge gap on the back straight.

He maintained that lead after rounding the turn for home.

“He did a good job for us there. There was no doubt. He was going well during the week, so we had a fair idea what he was going to do,” Crick said.

“We box-to-boxed him there the week before, so we had a fair idea that he just needed a few more hard gallops up the straight and he was right to go.

“I thought he would’ve run about 29.75 seconds, but I’ll take the 29.66 seconds any day.”

Crick was also relieved that Breakout Lad drew lane eight for Wednesday night’s Rockhampton Cup heat.

“I was watching a few of the 510 metre races last week. A few of them went off at the corner, but they’re probably dogs who haven’t been up there,” he said.

“I thought ‘I’d like to be either the one, two or eight’. And, I drew eight, so I was happy with that draw.”

Breakout Lad is by Melbourne Cup champion Aston Dee Bee and out of Rasheda, who registered 15 wins from 54 starts.

Crick said Breakout Lad had a fine temperament to match his strong athletic frame.

“She (Rasheda) was a top-class bitch. He’s very well-bred. I just know he had a few problems earlier on in his career,” he said.

“He’s a litter brother to the record breaker (29.03 seconds over 520 metres) at Wentworth Park, Dalwhinnie. He’s got a motor.”

As well as providing Crick with some confidence going into Wednesday night’s Rockhampton Cup heat, Breakout Lad gave the veteran conditioner a special personal milestone with his last-start victory.

“He’s given me a 100% rating of winning on every track I have raced on in Australia,” he said.

“That (Q2 Parklands) was the only track I hadn’t won on. I’ve got a 100% strike-rate and that includes Harold Park.

“I’ve only ever had three or four dogs at a time. I run a couple of businesses and I do this to get away from the business side of things.”

Meanwhile, Crick said he was looking forward to seeing a couple of his chasers make their debuts this week.

“I’ve got a Fernando Bale out of the Miss America line (dam Fortified Mack and named Don’t You Think) starting Tuesday – race two, number two at Q1 Lakeside,” he said.

“And, I’ve got a sister to it. She’ll be starting on Saturday night. So, I’ll be busy for the next week.”