When Rockstar Apollo burst onto the scene in the Zoom Top Maiden series in July of 2022, trainer and co-owner Shaun Evans thought he was about to go on the ride of a lifetime with a speed machine.
“He won his heat of the Zoom Top, then ran second to Zipping Orlando in the final, beating home Len Me Dad, Punter’s Bandit and Canya Smoke Them, that’s when I started dreaming big,” Evans said.
“I was thinking “we’re going to have a good career with this fella”. Races like the Easter Egg, the Million Dollar Chase, the Megastar all started popping into my mind…I thought we could go on a rampage with this dog.”
Fast forward six months and Rockstar Apollo clocked a 29.58 effort at Wentworth Park in his heat of the Group 1 National Derby to qualify second-fastest for the age-classic.
He ran fifth in the final behind star South Australian Chaser Victa Damian, but the seeds were sewn for a stellar year on the track.
The son of Barcia Bale carved out a heat win of 29.55 in a heat of the Nowra Puppy Classic in April (finishing fifth in the final from Box 8), before running third in a heat of the Dapto Megastar from another wide draw in August.
A week later, things took a turn for the worse following a Bulli heat of the 2023 Ladbrokes Million Dollar Chase.
“He qualified for the regional final at Bulli but we had to scratch him after he hurt a stopper tendon…we were gutted,” Evans said.
“He’s the dog we’d been looking for our whole lives. These types of animals don’t come along very often and he was the best and fastest dog we’ve had.”
Evans and partner Kayla-Jane COLEMAN taking their time to rehabilitate their kennel star, aware stopper injuries are notoriously difficult to overcome.
After four months off the track, he returned up the Richmond Straight on January 2 on 2024.
“We thought we finally had him going well but he did another stopper tendon in his first race back,” Evans lamented.
“It was so frustrating because we took so much time and care to get him right and we knew how much ability he had as well. I didn’t think we’d get him back after that injury to tell you the truth. It was like the cycle of issues was on repeat and we couldn’t shake it.”
But following another seven months in the chasing wilderness, Rockstar Apollo returned again.
“We gave him a look at Dapto and in his first circle run for 12 months, he ran 16.9. Then we gave him a short slip at Wenty Park and he went 15.09 …that’s when I knew he still had something left,” Evans added.
“So we threw him in a trial at Bulli and he went 22.3, before we nominated him for his second race in almost a year on Tuesday. It was the most nervous I’ve ever been watching a dog go around.”
“He missed the start but then he exploded away from them pretty quickly. I was hoping Maestro Ethics would go away because I didn’t know how much he’d have left in the tank, but he kicked on the line and I was a relieved man…it’s been a long wait but we finally got there.”
The final time of 22.41 good enough for BOD honours, with Evans hopeful his charge can now get some consistent racing under his belt.
“He seems to have come through it well and he’s not lame this morning so I’m happy. I’d love to put him around in the upcoming Bulli MDC because he can clearly still run but it might come around too quickly,” Evans said on Wednesday.
“The race I’d really like to win with him is the new Paul Wheelere one [Ladbrokes Simply The Best Paul Wheeler]. Paul was my mentor and he was the man. He got me here and taught me everything I know. I know that’s a long way off…but as I said earlier, I’m a dreamer.”
