Star trotter Cardigan Boko, a shock failure in the group 2 Trotters Cup last Friday week, is poised to bounce back to winning form, according to trainer Clive Dalton.
“He’s spot on and I’m confident he will win the New Year’s Eve event at Gloucester Park on Friday night,” Dalton said. “And he’s primed and ready to tackle the best in the $300,000 Great Southern Stars at Melton on February 4.”
Cardigan Boko, bred in Sweden, was favourite at 6/4 on in the Trotters Cup in which he came from sixth, three wide, at the bell to surge into third place 250m from home when, most uncharacteristically, he broke into a gallop and dropped back to finish eighth behind Sunnys Little Whiz.
“Breaking was quite out of character,” Dalton said. “If he hadn’t broken he was certain to win the race. He is now right on target for the Great Southern Stars and the Bendigo Mile the following week.”
Cardigan Boko has returned to racing after a life-threatening injury and illness late in 2015 and he has won four times and finished second once in six starts since reappearing after an 11-month absence.
The eight-year-old Cardigan Boko has had 31 starts for 230 wins, five seconds and $123,852 in stakes. He was bought on a whim as a weanling by WA businessman Neven Botica, who was in Sweden in 2009 to watch his champion trotter Sundons Gift compete in the famous Elitlopp event for trotters. Sundons Gift finished sixth in a heat and failed to qualify for the $1 million final. He retired after earning $1,275,264 from 41 wins and 17 placings from 86 starts.
Before his unplaced run in the Trotters Cup Cardigan Boko had scored effortless victories at his four previous outings, winning by an average margin of seven lengths.
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