It only took one $10,000 bid to secure In Cahoots at the Inglis Classic sale a couple of years ago but it took two years to find his potential after the flick of a blade.
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Newcastle trainer Phillip Atkins says the more than $200,000 in earnings, from eight starts for four wins and a couple of seconds, will only grow as In Cahoots’ real racing career continues over the next few years after being gelded.
“It has made him a racehorse,” Atkins said. “He always had talent but he had his mind on something else last prep, so we cut him.
“He come back and won first-up and then got beat when he was looking for 1200 metres before the Gosford Guineas, where he surprised me with the way he handled the heavy track ... It is amazing the difference it has made.”
His record without the lust for mares is two wins and a second for $168,000 in prizemoney, and In Cahoots is out to add the Royal Sovereign Stakes at Randwick on Saturday to his CV.
The last-start Gosford Guineas victory is a long way from when he was unwanted by anyone else at the sale, apart from Atkins.
“He is a Bradbury’s Luck and we had had quite a handy mare by the stallion, which had won six around the provincials for us,” Atkins said.
“The mare [Hot Copper] had had three winners, so we thought we might have to pay a bit more for him. He walked into the ring one bid of $10,000 and he was ours.
“He was quite small as a yearling and that probably helped us get him for that price.”
In Cahoots is eight runs into a racing career, but the difficulties of being a small stable means he will have his eighth different jockey when Damien Oliver is legged up on Saturday.
“We just try to book who we can get,” Atkins said. “Christian Reith was on him at Gosford and would have stuck with him.
“He had been booked for one of Anthony Cummings for Saturday’s race, which ended up not running. It is one of those things
“So we got Damien Oliver, who isn’t a bad replacement.”
Although In Cahoots is considered a $16 outsider at Ladbrokes, Atkins is confident after he beat many of his Royal Sovereign rivals at Gosford.
“We know he will handle the track and he is still underrated by most people,” Atkins said. “If he can win this race it would a great end to a preparation and we could put him away for the spring.”
