Legendary Victorian trainer Jason Thompson has told Sydney owner Jimmy Vescos his dog Rocket Riot has the talent and temperament to win a Group One race and next month's Group Two Beast Unleashed Gosford Gold Cup could prove a stepping stone towards fulfilling that prediction.
Rocket Riot, trained in Sydney by Peter Lagogiane, was under Thompson's care when he contested the recent group one Silver Chief Classic at Melbourne's The Meadows circuit.
Already the winner in October of Wentworth Park's $25,000 to the winner Young Star Classic, Rocket Riot was runner-up in the December 16 final of the 525m Silver Chief from box two, after winning his heat from box one.
"He didn't jump quite as well as normal in the final and when a very strong dog like Mepunga Shine got in front of him Rocket Riot couldn't run him down,'' Vescos said.
"But after the race, Jason Thompson consoled me by saying Rocket Riot was sure to win a really big race because he was a very intelligent dog and had stacks of early pace.''
Vescos, who is among Australia's greatest exponents of pigeon racing, has 180 blueblood birds ready to tackle the 2024 season beginning in May, where he will attempt to become the first flyer to win the Sydney/Cumberland Premiership three years in succession.
But for now, the eastern suburbs resident's mind is on Rocket Riot taking out the Gosford Cup, which gets underway with heats over 515m on December 26, with the $40,000 to the winner final on January 2.
If Rocket Riot is successful it will mark the culmination of a long-range plan for Vescos, who bought the dog's dam Princess Riot as a six-month-old puppy.
Rocket Riot
"In 2017 I attended the Richmond Puppy Auction where I had my sights set on lot one, a bitch puppy by Fernando Bale from the great producer Ready To Riot,'' Vescos recalled.
"I would have paid anything for her but probably because she was the first lot to be sold I got her for only $7500, cheap as far as I was concerned.
"Racing as Princess Riot, and trained for me by Peter Laglogiane, that puppy won 11 of just 24 starts.
"But I had long earmarked her as a future brood bitch so early in her racing career I purChased a straw to the then up-and-coming sire Barcia Bale.
"As soon as Princess Riot came in season she was retired and mated to Barcia Bale, with Rocket Riot among the puppies from thar union.''
Rocket Riot has won 12 of 21 races including two from three Gosford starts, clocking 29.54 and then a flying 29.45 on October 31.
Those figures are impressive considering a new race record of 29.15 for the Gosford Cup final was established by the 2019 winner Beast Unleashed, trained by Peter Lagogiane.
Wow matched that time in 2021 with Zipping Kyrgios scoring in 29.26 in 2022 and Punter's Bandit recording 29.37 in the 2023 Cup final.
Not surprisingly Lagogiane, who sponsors the Cup through his stud dog Beast Unleashed, has a strong "second" contender this year.
Nad Al Sheba, a winner of 12 from 25 races and already a 29.44 Gosford winner, will also represent the dual Million Dollar Chase winning trainer in the central coast's biggest race of the year.
