Bamford and Rocket learning on their northern odyssey
Garrick Knight - Raceform • March 28th, 2025 12:30 PM • 3 min read
Tom Bamford is lucky enough to be training one of the country’s most exciting pacers.
But like stable star Rakero Rocket, Bamford is relatively inexperienced and he freely admits both man and horse are learning on the job as they navigate top-flight racing.
The North Canterbury pair have spent this week in Clevedon, South Auckland, preparing for next week’s $1 Million The Race by betcha at Cambridge’s huge Night of Champions meeting.
Rakero Rocket has a spot in the slot race via his owners the Dawe family, and for Bamford that means readying his charge to take on generational Australian talent Leap to Fame as well as other elite pacers like Don Hugo, Merlin and Republican Party.
“We’re learning together, you could say,” Bamford told RaceForm. “I am lucky in that I’ve got a lot of people around me who know what it’s like having a top horse.
“This trip is a good experience for both me and the horse, especially if we want to travel across the Tasman in the future.”
As a lead-up to next week, Rakero Rocket takes in Friday night’s $60,000 Gr. 2 Garrards Waikato Pacers Flying Mile, also at Cambridge.
He’s second-up from a brief spell and this week’s run follows on from being beaten by Pinseeker at Addington a fortnight ago. (Click here to watch a replay of that race)
“We were pleased with the run. Gav (Smith, driver) knew at the quarter peg that the leader was going a bit better, and he didn’t knock him round but made sure he ran second.
“He wasn’t screwed right down and had a decent enough blow. Not like he was stressed, just one that told me that he would take a lot of improvement from it.”
“Heading to this Friday he’s still not 100 per cent fit, but I would say he’s going to need a decent run going into next week.”
The Flying Mile is preferential draw based on rating and that has put main rivals Merlin ($2.50) and Duchess Megxit ($14) on the second row as well as Mo’unga ($6) from the widest alley.
Accordingly, bookies had Rakero Rocket at $6.50 on Tuesday due to his withering gate speed and the advantage that brings around a circuit like Cambridge.
“It’s a track where you’ve sort of got to be handy so we will be going forward.
“I know Sooner The Bettor ($5) has gate speed, but I don’t think we will have an issues getting to the lead as we’re pretty sharp out.”
While he was a Group One winner over Merlin, Don’t Stop Dreaming and Pinseeker in the inaugural running of The Christian Cullen at Addington in December, it’s worth remembering that Rakero Rocket is still only a baby experience-wise.
“He’s had less than 20 starts, and I really think he just needs this preparation and the start of the next to harden him up to racing at the top level.
“It takes a few races to acclimatise them to running fast times every start, but I have no doubt he is up to it.
“He never had a three-year-old season, while most of the others were in the Sires Stakes and Derbies. So he’s a late bloomer and that means we’re playing catch up a little bit.
“I still think, physically, he’s got a bit of maturing and improvement left in him, too.”
Bamford has set his sights on our greatest race. “Eighteen months ago, when we realised he’s a pretty nice horse, we pencilled in November 2025 and the New Zealand Cup as our target.
“The goal is to have him at his peak for that and we have tried to look after him to this point with that in mind. So this trip up north is a little bit like what Mark Jones has done with Tact McLeod in Aussie recently.
“You can only baby them for so long before the boy has to become a man and hopefully on this trip he really stands up and does that.”
Photograph at the top of the page: Rakero Rocket and Gavin Smith, pictured in a recent Nelson win, tackle the Waikato Pacers Flying Mile at Cambridge on Friday night. Credit: RaceForm
