{"id":51502,"date":"2025-08-08T00:18:13","date_gmt":"2025-08-08T00:18:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/51502\/"},"modified":"2025-08-08T00:18:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-08T00:18:13","slug":"trainer-mathrick-pins-valley-hopes-on-in-form-shoeless","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/51502\/","title":{"rendered":"Trainer Mathrick pins Valley hopes on in-form Shoeless"},"content":{"rendered":"

A frustrating week could end with a flourish for Cranbourne trainer Shawn Mathrick<\/a> at The Valley.<\/p>\n

Mathrick had found the perfect race at the ideal venue for speedster Unflinching on Saturday, duly entering him for a 1000m contest on a track at which the gelding had won six times.<\/p>\n

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The bargain online buy had thrilled Mathrick with his trials leading up to his return to racing but the racing gods were having none of it, conspiring against the trainer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI set him for that race and he trialled enormous. The horse was airborne,\u201d Mathrick said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had him scoped and he had a trapped epiglottis and an infection. Unbelievable.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s on some medication so he\u2019s now a couple of weeks away.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019ll be fine soon enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022 Brad Waters\u2019 The Valley Saturday tips, race-by-race analysis<\/a><\/p>\n

Consistent galloper Shoeless<\/a> could ease Mathrick\u2019s disappointment in the EDSA Group Handicap (1600m).<\/p>\n

Mathrick has Shoeless racing in great heart with three wins and five minor placings in the gelding\u2019s last eight starts.<\/p>\n

Mathrick said Shoeless could have added at least another couple of wins to his recent tally had the son of Shooting To Win had more luck in his races.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he should have won his five,\u201d Mathrick said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s had no luck, been locked away on the fence and couldn\u2019t get out but he just has that big powerful finish at the end.\u201d<\/p>\n

The trainer said Shoeless\u2019s last-start win in Adelaide was better than it looked on paper with things looking dire at the halfway mark before the five-year-old powered home under jockey Zac Spain.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Melbourne Cup plans grow for US stayer<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cHe didn\u2019t handle that track at Morphettville,\u201d Mathrick said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was off the bit about 800(m) out and I thought, \u2018we\u2019re in trouble here\u2019 but when he balanced up, he hit the line hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shoeless will be one 13 runners in Saturday\u2019s $130,000 race at Benchmark 74 level.<\/p>\n

Jockey Craig Newitt<\/a> will ride Shoeless from barrier one at The Valley.<\/p>\n

Mathrick said a strong early gallop would suit Shoeless\u2019s strong-finishing style.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith a bit of luck, with the rail in the true (position), he\u2019ll be able to get home at The Valley,\u201d Mathrick said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey don\u2019t have to go mad in front because he can sprint for 600m. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut it would be good if they went mad.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shoeless is an $8.50 chance to earn another reward for his consistency with a win at The Valley.<\/p>\n

Originally published as Shoeless steps in for Cranbourne trainer Shawn Mathrick at The Valley<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A frustrating week could end with a flourish for Cranbourne trainer Shawn Mathrick at The Valley. Mathrick had…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":51503,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[26366,28464,28465,8222,28473,28471,28466,28463,7611,18957,20584,12036,12032,12035,3004,28461,28470,28467,28462,101,28469,56,54,55,28472,28468],"class_list":["post-51502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-racing","tag-brad-waters","tag-consistent-galloper","tag-edsa-group-handicap","tag-getty-images-inc","tag-ideal-venue","tag-jockey-craig-newitt","tag-last-start-win","tag-minor-placings","tag-punters-racing","tag-punters-racing-victoria","tag-racenet-race-previews","tag-racenet-racing-victoria","tag-racenet-saturday-racing","tag-racenet-vic","tag-racing","tag-racing-photos","tag-shoeless-steps","tag-shoeless-will","tag-shooting","tag-sports","tag-strong-finishing-style","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-valley-hopes","tag-zac-spain"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51502","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51502"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51502\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51503"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}