Roulette King has taught Trevor Rogers how to say no and the Cranbourne trainer never expected the reward for continually denying prospective buyers would be seeing his small team increase.
But so impressed was one potential buyer with Rogers’ dedication to his untapped four-year-old that he added to his stable.
Rogers secured a horse from one of the many cashed-up owners hoping to buy Roulette King, which he considers a bonus given he still has Roulette King in his care.
“I actually had one of the last bidders on the horse more or less said, ‘if I can’t buy him can I give you one’, so he gave me a horse to train,” Rogers said.
“It’s worked out good for me.”
Ghaiyyath four-year-old Winsilence came to Rogers from Lindsay Park and he is knocking on the door of a win after third and fourth placings at Sale.
That was where Roulette King won his first race, at start No 2, which began a four-race winning streak that led all the way to the Group 2 Alister Clark Stakes (2000m) at Caulfield on March 21.
The really big offers starting flooding in after that, which only heightened Rogers’ enthusiasm for where the son of Casino Prince might lead the team of owners who secured him for just $50,000 at the 2024 Inglis Premier Yearling Sale.
Roulette King will be among the nominations for the spring’s premier weight-for-age contest, the $6 million Cox Plate (2040m) when they are released on Tuesday, but Rogers has his eyes on an even more valuable event.
With the $10 million Golden Eagle (1500m) restricted to four-year-olds, Rogers is keen to give Roulette King the opportunity to prove himself worthy of a shot at what it his only crack at that event.
He will reappear at the jumpouts midway through this month before possibly returning in the $175,000 Listed Tontonan Stakes (1400m) at Flemington on September 12.
“It’s hard to go past a race like the Golden Eagle,” Rogers said.
“I’m going to probably give him on a run in a benchmark 100 or the Tontonan over 1400 at Flemington to see if he’s got enough ping in his step when he’s fresh to take on those type of horses.
“If he can race well in that, that gives me plenty of time to freshen him up and take him to Sydney for the 1500.
“We’ll obviously experiment here first to make sure we’re not going up there for no reason.
“This preparation is going to tell us a lot about the horse.
“Everything we’ve asked him, he’s done everything and beyond, so who knows?”
The Golden Eagle, which will this year be run for the first time at Group 1 level, will be held at Randwick on October 31.
