05 July 2018 | Ken Casellas
Serpentine horseman Matt Scott achieved a significant milestone notching his 300th winner as a trainer when Shannon Suvaljko drove outstanding square gaiter Glenferrie Typhoon to an effortless all-the-way victory in 2130m mobile event at Gloucester Park on Tuesday night.
Glenferrie Typhoon revealed dazzling gate speed from the outside barrier (No. 8) to burst to an early lead and he was untroubled to defeat the well-performed Sun of Anarchy.
”If all goes well, he’ll be set for the Trotters Inter Dominion at Melton in early December,” the 41-year-old Scott said. “He is a very good horse and I have never trained a Group 1 winner, let alone have a Group 1 runner. There will be three mobile heats and a mobile half-a-million dollar final.
“Glenferrie Typhoon will have another four to six starts before having a freshen-up and then resume racing to get ready for the Inters. That’s the plan and, hopefully, all goes well. There’s a lot of water to go under the bridge, but I’m sure he will keep improving. I’d say he’s the best trotter WA has had, and that includes Cardigan Boko, Sunnys Little Whiz and some others.
“He has had only 12 runs in the past 18 months when it wasn’t known what exactly was wrong with him. He had a full body X-ray in Melbourne where he was racing and this found a few hot spots. This required four months off and then last Christmas he suffered from a quarter crack.”
Glenferrie Typhoon came to Western Australia early this year and he has won at three of his five starts in the State. “John Gullace and his partner Cathy Cousins are the majority owners and they were keen for him to race here, instead of watching most of his Victorian races on Sky Channel,” Scott said.
Glenferrie Typhoon boasts a wonderful record of 57 starts for 25 wins, 12 placings and $480,043 in stakes. His wins include three wins, a second and a third in Group 1 events and he has also won two Group 3 events.
His most recent Group 1 success was when he rated 1.58.8 in beating Speeding Spur by a head in the 2760m $300,000 Great Southern Star final at Melton on February 4, 2017. In March 2016 he finished second in the 1720m Great Southern Star final, with the winner Speeding Spur rating 1.55.5.
Scott is enjoying his most successful season and is currently in seventh position on the Statewide trainers’ premiership table with 481 starters for 46 wins, 44 seconds, 59 thirds and 58 fourths.
His first training success was when he drove Glenn Agro to victory over Prince of Stone in a 2120m C0-class event at Merredin on March 15, 1997.
“My first 200 winners took a long time,” Scott said. “But I’ve had a hundred over the past 16 months.”
He has three runners at Gloucester Park on Friday night and said that Neighlor and Qtown Rip Roaring had each-way prospects in race one. “They were unplaced behind Eden Franco last Friday night when she produced a sensational effort,” he said.
”Neighlor has a chance of crossing to the front from barrier six if we light him up at the start, and if he does he’ll go good. Qtown Rip Roaring is an each-way chance if the race is run upside down. Always Arjay faces a tough task from barrier five in race three.”
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