BENDIGO trainer Daryn Drust will be chasing a hat-trick of consecutive wins with Cooter Cha Cha when his tough stayer next steps onto a racetrack.
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The seven-year-old gelding made it two-straight victories on Monday, with another dour staying performance over the 2200m journey on a heavy 10 at Hamilton.
Ridden to perfection by John Robertson, Cooter Cha Cha - a $14 chance - shot to the lead at the 300m and never looked likely to be headed, eventually winning by two-lengths over We'll Meet Again, with Allaboutattitude a further length away in third.
The win marked the first time the gelding has scored back-to-back wins during his 39 race career.
He previously won at Wangaratta in late-August.
All six of Cooter Cha Cha's career wins have come on soft 6 or heavy tracks - and at five different venues.
Drust admitted he was leaping for joy when more than 40mm of rain fell on Hamilton over the weekend.
"I was a bit iffy nominating, but hoping they would get the rain. Once they got that much, the confidence went through the roof," he said.
"I thought he'd be pretty hard to beat in those conditions.
"The wetter the better for him."
Drust said Cooter Cha Cha had thrived since being moved out of the trainer's Bendigo stables and onto his farming property at Raywood.
"I think he just became bored with the stable life, to be honest," he said.
"He's always been a bit of a quirky bugger, but he only gets to the track three times a week these days.
"Mixing it up a bit has got him switched on."
Drust said while there was some light-hearted pressure from at least one of his owners to chase 'three in a row', he was yet to determine where the gelding would head next.
"It's not beyond the horse; this race hasn't taken a lot out of him. He's just had a lazy day at home in the paddock. That's his day off," he said.
'll just see how he is in his work next week. He's pulled up super.
"We have backed him up in the past and he's produced some of his best runs, but here we are three weeks apart between runs and everything is fine with him.
"But I'm not in a rush to get him back to a race in seven or 10 days."
It was a memorable day for jockey Robertson, who notched his first win since his success on Star Search at Ararat in January.
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