It’s not very often that a 10-year-old wins back-to-back races, but the Phil Cole-trained Roughly achieved the feat on Saturday during the Alice Springs Turf Club’s first meeting of the 2022/23 season at Pioneer Park.
The Kaphero mare, who won her first race as a three-year-old when she saluted in a 1000m maiden in Bendigo in March 2016, is proving that she still has a spring in her step.
And it’s not as if she was competing against lightweight opposition either.
Roughly proved far too good for her rivals at an open level in the $22,000 Jockey Celebration Day Handicap (1200m) on the weekend, winning by two lengths.
That followed a win by half a length at open level in the $22,000 Seppelt Wines Handicap (1200m) on July 17.
Darwin-based jockey Casey Hunter was the winning rider on each occasion.
Returning from a 20 month hiatus, Roughly finished sixth over 1000m on May 29 and seventh over 1200m on June 19 in open class before coming seventh over 1100m (0-76) on July 3.
It appeared as though the horse was just going through the motions, but then everything just seemingly clicked into gear.
Roughly won the Queen Of The Desert (1200m) – a feature race for the fillies and mares at a 0-76 level – in May 2020 during the Alice Springs Cup Carnival for former trainer Carly Cook and with Hunter in the saddle.
Another win at Pioneer Park over 1000m in open class was followed by two unplaced starts before a win over 1200m (0-76) in September 2020.
Then, for whatever reason, Roughly wasn’t sighted.
After three runs in Victoria at the start of her career for Leon & Troy Corstens, she ended up in Darwin in July 2016 under the guidance of South Australian trainer Michael Hickmott, who started out in the Top End after relocating from Murray Bridge.
Two wins in three starts at Fannie Bay saw Roughly head south, where she finished unplaced in one start at Mildura and two starts at Morphettville.
In June 2017, the mare debuted for Alice Springs trainer Paul Gardner before racing for Darwin-based trainer Phil Cole from July 2019 and Red Centre trainer Carly Cook from April 2020.
Cole ended up training Roughly a second time when Cook relocated interstate.
Roughly has a record of 8-3-4-2 from 24 starts in Alice Springs and a record of 3-3-2-3 from 18 starts in Darwin, and her 49 career starts include a win on Katherine Cup Day in August 2019.
“She’s been racing in great form of late,” Cole said.
“Had a decent spell before returning – like almost two years off.
“She’s re-discovered a bit of form, but her record at Alice Springs is very good.
“They definitely served it up to her on Saturday and she just proved too strong in the finish.”
Gardner now works for Cole as his foreman in Alice Springs and it was following his recommendation that Roughly was brought back into work.
After returning to the Cole stable, Roughly made her long-awaited comeback a few weeks after the Alice Springs Cup Carnival in late May.
“Yeah, I think Roughly just got lost in the system a bit,” Cole said.
“The fact that Carly moved interstate and the horse went to the paddock – no one chased up about it.
“Paul has been doing a good job and Roughly is reaping the benefits from getting trained down there in Alice Springs.
“When I had her a couple of years ago she probably struggled in Darwin at the time matching it against the open-class horses.
“I dropped her back to 0-70 level and she was competitive.
“She’s definitely going better in Alice Springs – she’s been pretty consistent.
“Casey Hunter, who won on Roughly previously for Carly Cook, was back on the mare for her past two starts and she’s been kicking goals ever since.
“Roughly will go around next meeting at Alice Springs – there’s an open 1100m race.
“She’s completely sound and I have no issues or anything with her.
“We’ll just run her when there’s races for her at the moment.”
Meanwhile, Cole is busily preparing for yet another trip to Birdsville after taking a team of horses to the outback Queensland location in April.
The Birdsville Cup meetings take place on September 2-3 and there is every chance he will have runners at the Bedourie Cup meeting as well on September 10.
Just 187km divide Birdsville, which is just north of the South Australian border, and Bedourie to the north – with the Desert Simpson and Northern Territory border not that far away to the west.
Strathalbyn trainer Kym Healy, who regularly brings horses from South Australia for the Darwin and Alice Springs carnivals, is due to head north again and join Cole for the Birdsville and Bedourie meetings.
Before heading to Birdsville, Cole is bound for the annual Katherine Cup meeting on Saturday.
“I’ve got 11 horses nominated to go to Katherine on the weekend,” he said.
“Then I come back to Darwin before sending a team of horses to Birdsville who probably haven’t lived up to expectations in Darwin.
“Taking Saccharo across for the Birdsville Cup and Kronos for the big sprint over there.”
Saccharo was a last-start winner in open company over 1600m on Darwin Cup Day on August 1.
Cole had a highly successful 2021/22 season in the NT, training 30.5 winners in Darwin and 12 winners in Alice Springs.
He finished second in the Top End trainers’ premiership behind Gary Clarke (55), and apart from Clarke (57), no other NT trainer had as many wins last season as Cole (42.5).
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