Trade Talk a whisper from sprint

He will talk about Colorado River, the 2004 Geraldton Cup winner, and he will talk about Fundamental, the victor of the Geraldton Sprint a decade later. But try to get him to open up about the other name on the entry sign to his racing stables, and Kim Anderson clams up. Shocker Lodge is home to Anderson and his horses. “Yep, I’ll talk Colorado River, he was the rank outsider in the Cup, and Fundamental, but don’t go into why the place is called Shocker,” Anderson said. “You won’t get answers.” But Anderson’s hoping he will be “opening up” on Sunday night — and if such is the case, the words Trade Talk could be added to the stable name. “He’s a show, but I think it’s of running a place,” Anderson said of the chances of Trade Talk in the 2021 Batavia Sprint. “It looks an even field — hopefully the winner is a Geraldton horse.” Trade Talk, known as Max around Shocker Lodge, had a stay in Perth earlier this season. The five-year-old gelding is a winner of 10 races and a collector of $160,000 in stakes — 10 times the amount his owners paid for him as a yearling. “He’s only a small fella and will probably go out after Sunday’s sprint,” Anderson said. “I’ve already worked him this morning and put him away. “You’re not seeing him.” Ah, not only the reason behind how it was named is hiding at Shocker Lodge, but also its star resident. The Batavia Sprint is worth $100,000 and is arguably the best race on the Geraldton calendar. Little wonder there were 31 nominations for the maximum 14-horse field. It is the feature of a massive 10-race card at Utakarra on Sunday. Extra races were added after last Saturday’s meeting was abandoned. The meeting starts at 12.15pm and concludes at 5.30pm.