“I found out he had poor separation and he lost a quarter of his hoof when I cut away the problem area,” Voak said. “I then put on a special shoe to provide the hoof with the necessary support – and he was able to race without any discomfort. He had no pain, but it will take four to five months for the hoof to grow again.”
Maximum Rock worked hard in the wind when he finished fourth behind Thelittle Master in a Nights Of Thunder qualifying heat the previous Friday evening, and was declared an emergency for the main event on Friday evening.
Voak was unimpressed that Maximum Rock had performed so well in a mobile sprint event and was lining up for a standing start event on Friday evening over the much longer 2503 meter journey.
Maximum Rock, a $7.40 chance, was handicapped from the 20 yards and he began moving quickly on the wind, with the frontrunner and $1.75 favorite Dourado setting a solid pace.
Maximum Rock reached the front 350 yards from home, and he fought well to win by half a length from $21 chance Rock Me Over, who finished strongly from seventh at the bell. Maximum Rock is a daughter of Rock N Roll World and is the only foal out of Life To The Max, who raced 69 times for six wins, 15 placings and $41,870. Maximum Rock has earned $126,844 from ten wins and 16 placings from 45 starts.
His victory on Friday evening gave Voak the final part of a training and riding treble, following victories earlier in the program with Queeninthecorner and Fat Louie. This was a special occasion for Voak: he celebrated his first training triumph among three winners in the metropolitan class.
Voak, who relies on significant help from his wife Asha, also paid tribute to Aaron Brown, a former successful trainer in South Australia and Victoria, who has been stablemaster for the past six months.
“Since joining the team, Browny has helped with several ideas,” Voak said. “All our horses are doing a lot better and it is no coincidence that they are doing so well.”
Queeninthecorner, the $1.60 favourite, produced a strong lead to win the 2130m Perth Now Pace over 2130m, while Fat Louie ($17.40) impressed by ringing the bell from seventh and charging to the front 150m later before pulling away to win by four lengths from the $20 chance Rockandrollartist, who finished strongly from ninth with a lap to go.
Franco Encore ($13) sprinted quickly to overcome the lead time in 34.6 seconds. and then he withstood a tough challenge to take the lead from the $3.30 favorite My Watchlist.
“The race was set up for us,” Voak said. “Fat Louie has been plagued by injury and I’m sure he will improve a lot. He could possibly go with some of the better horses. He is still quite green and looked around the line.”
“The ease with which he could move around them was surprising. There were a lot of horses that went outside their comfort zone.”
For full race results, click here.
Through Ken Casellasfor Gloucester Park
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