Colin Webster chasing win in The Quokka to celebrate 83rd birthday

Winning The Quokka with Trix Of The Trade will be the perfect birthday gift for revered West Australian trainer Colin Webster.

Webster turned 83 on Tuesday, nearly five months after celebrating his biggest win as a trainer when Trix Of The Trade took out the Group 1 Railway Stakes (1600m).

And he made a compelling case why his most special horse can provide him with another career highlight in the new $4m sprint at Ascot on Saturday.

Trix Of The Trade is unbeaten in three first-up runs, and has three wins in four attempts at 1200m although they were at the start of his career as a three-year-old.

“He can run the 1200m. The three wins have been in inferior company to this but we feel starting him first-up is the best,” Webster said.

“He runs fantastic races first-up and we’ve pulled a bit of a rabbit out of the hat because we’ve put the blinkers on him for the first time.

“We’ve put the blinkers on him and we think that will make him a bit sharper out of the barriers.”

Trix Of The Trade is a $17 chance in The Quokka with TAB despite drawing barrier four.

Following the Railway Stakes success, the four-year-old gelding ran sixth in the Group 1 Northerly Stakes (1800m), beaten 2¼ lengths behind Amelia’s Jewel, the $2.80 Quokka favourite.

Webster said Amelia’s Jewel had the race at her mercy.

“She is an absolute superstar and I would say that it would need something to go wrong for her to be beaten,” Webster said.

“But that happens in racing and we’re going in with confidence we’ll run a great race.”

Webster said he hadn’t made any plans for Trix Of The Trade beyond Saturday.

“We’ve just got him ready for this one race,” he said.

“We just concentrated solely on that and hope we’ve done the right thing.”

Originally published as Railway Stakes winner Trix Of The Trade can give Colin Webster 83rd birthday present in The Quokka

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