Strathmore Rose heads to Fitzpatrick Plate after being part of dominant Rogers Boxing Day display in Albany

Leading Albany trainer Roy Rogers is in red-hot form after five winners in Albany on Boxing Day followed by a treble at Mt Barker on December 30. Rogers has 20 victories to his name in the 2022-23 season and 14 of those have come in six meetings held so far in the Great Southern. The stable had a treble in Albany on December 9 before five winners in Albany on December 26 and then another three in Mt Barker last week. Rogers paid credit to his hard-working staff after the dominant display on Boxing Day. “I’ve got a terrific team of staff which helps,” he said. “They are here early in the morning and they love the horses. “We flushed out a lot of the older horses and had a good clean out, which is another factor I think. “It was a great day with five winners and (we) came close to our record of six. “Five winners takes a lot of work and I have my staff to thank for that.” Rogers won five of the seven races on offer at Percy Spencer Racecourse on Boxing Day, linking up with comeback jockey Brayden Gaerth, who finished with a treble. Kutsanya was a dominant maiden winner in race one before Gaerth and Rogers made it two from two when Snippagem won a thrilling finish to the Iron Jack Handicap (1600m). The hot combination made it three straight wins when God’s Moment proved too strong for her rivals over 1100m in race three. Strathmore Rose then produced a sizzling display in the XXXX Handicap (1100m), leading from start to finish and winning by more than four lengths, with Beaux Banovic-Edwards in the saddle. Banovic-Edwards brought up her second winner and a fifth for Rogers when Double Thumbs Up powered to victory at $15 in race six. Rogers was taken by the performance of Strathmore Rose, who will be nominated for this Sunday’s $100,000 Fitzpatrick Plate in Albany. “She’s come back in really good order,” Rogers said. “She’ll be nominated for the Fitzpatrick Plate and is a great lightweight chance. “The horse she beat, Our Wind Spirit, is no slouch and has been transferred to my stable as well.” Rogers also said Double Thumbs Up was progressing nicely. “God’s Moment is a lightly-raced six-year-old who has a lot of improvement in her,” he said. “Double Thumbs Up is a work in progress and came to us very headstrong. “But we’ve settled him down and (he) is finishing off his races well and I’d expect him to win a few more this preparation.” Trainer Sherylanne Dombrowski briefly halted the Rogers dominance when her consistent galloper Loki broke through in race four. Hip Wiggle, from the yard of Cliff Green, saluted in the final race, defeating the Rogers-trained Count The Sessions by 1.2 lengths to deny him a sixth winner.