Quantum Cat isn’t the most prodigious talent in Chris Waller’s stable but he does have a claim to fame as the horse with the most unusual markings.
The chestnut boasts an almost piebald effect on parts of his coat, particularly his nearside shoulder, and it hasn’t always been that way.
“He is everyone’s favourite with his unusual markings. You can’t miss them,” Waller’s assistant Charlie Duckworth said.
“He got ringworm and the ringworm left a scar.
“It changed the hair follicles so they all came back white.”
While ringworm isn’t rare in horses, the scarring on Quantum Cat’s coat is, with Duckworth saying he hasn’t seen it affect any other thoroughbred the same way.
But it hasn’t hindered the former European on the track, even though it has taken him 14 months and a similar number of starts to post his first Australian win.
That was achieved in The Living Turf Handicap (1800m) at Randwick on Saturday and came as a relief to the stable, who had begun to wonder if he was giving his best.
“The last couple of races we have ‘ummed and ahhed’ whether he has been applying himself fully,” Duckworth said.
“At Hawkesbury (two starts ago) he was a little bit unlucky where he got struck across the nose so we gave him the benefit of the doubt.
“Time and time again the jockeys kept saying he was applying himself, he just needed conditions to suit and he got exactly that today. He was certainly trying.”
Courtesy of a smart ride from Zac Lloyd, Quantum Cat ($3 fav) speared to the front halfway up the straight and maintained his advantage to the line to score by three-quarters of a length over Hollywood Hero ($12) with the winner’s stablemate Kirkeby ($81) the same margin away third.
Duckworth confirmed Quantum Cat would likely be nominated for next Saturday’s Listed McKell Cup (2000m) at Rosehill and be monitored this week to determine if he backed up.
After Quantum Cat’s breakthrough win in The Living Turf Handicap, punters will be watching closely if he steps up in next weekend’s McKell Cup, with early markets available at the best betting sites Australia.
