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Exciting five-year-old Rockwell will be out to defend his unbeaten domestic record when he steps out at Taupo on Wednesday.
The son of Fastnet Rock made one appearance at home last season for an impressive maiden win at Avondale, which earned him a trip to Queensland.
Rockwell finished runner-up at Ipswich in his Australian debut before a below par effort preceded a welcome victory at the Gold Coast.“He was dead stiff at his first start and then he was a bit ordinary at the Sunshine Coast,” trainer Gary Alton said.
“We thought we would go there and win and it was a relief when he got that last one. It was the same day that Historian broke down so it was some sort of compensation.”Rockwell will resume in the Taupo Farmlands 1000 and from a handy gate his rider Vinnie Colgan should be able to use the gelding’s early gate speed to good advantage.
“I thought he may have got a few more rating points on his Australian form,” Alton said.“He only went from a 63 to 67 and that’s not enough to have a crack at the better Rating 75 races so we’re going to Taupo and he’s coming up really well.
“The blinkers have got him focussed – we’ll take it one step at a time, but he’s always showed enough to suggest he could pick up one of those good handicaps over Christmas.”Another five-year-old son of Fastnet Rock in Fast Fiction looms as one of Rockwell’s main rivals on Wednesday.
The Jason Bridgman-trained gelding finished third on the track two runs back behind the progressive mare Far Fetched and then won his last start at Matamata.His stablemate Equanimity is set to resume in the event and she has previously starred when produced in a fresh state.