Whitaker plots Redcar heist

Richard Whitaker is hoping lightning can strike twice in Redcar’s totescoop6 Two-Year-Old Trophy on Saturday.

The Scarcroft-based handler saddled the speedy Captain Rio to success in the valuable event in 2001 and would love to be fired back into the big time with Quanah Parker at the weekend.

“Believe it or not, Captain Rio winning this race and going on to prove himself as a Group horse did not have any effect on the number of horses I was sent,” reflected Whitaker.

“You would have thought I would have been sent a few more from somewhere, but I was much busier in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

“Rio was a great horse – he went on to prove himself and now he has carried that on at stud, he’s one of the leading sires.

“This horse (Quanah Parker) won the same maiden at Ripon last time that Captain Rio won and we were going to take him to Ayr, but the ground was desperate.

“I haven’t had a good look at the race yet, though, so I wouldn’t be able to say what sort of a chance he’d have – I just saw there were 50-odd entries in there.

“Saturday is a long way off yet.”