No good excuses
May 17th, 2009 by Bert
A busy day today with no time to blog, so just a quick one.
It was a pretty desperate weekend with some of my best hopes for the season running poorly with no good excuses. Marine Boy ran a respectable fourth on Friday, but I’d hoped he was better than that. Tom’s analysis was fairly sober - “he’s probably not as good as we thought he was”. Winker ran well for about six furlongs and then went out like a light - again there seemed to be no excuses. He’s been outstanding on the gallops but he just won’t do it on the track any more and it’s getting harder to keep the faith - there was talk about retiring him but I’m not sure I see the point in doing that at this time of year. Bea Menace ran poorly.
Maxwell Hawke ran late last night, and I had him in my mind as my best bet of the weekend. He was aggressively opposed in the market - if I hadn’t have been backing him he’d have gone off at a huge price. He led but was swallowed up in the closing stages. finishing nowhere. I went to bed feeling extremely depressed.
I spoke to Pete this morning - apparently Maxwell got very colty beforehand. He was roaring in the ring beforehand and, with apologies to my more refined readers, he “had his dick out in the ring, down at the start, and Alan thought he saw it swinging around during the race”. I felt a lot better hearing this, if a bit foolhardy for having backed him. He’s always been a bit of a lad - next time he runs it may say “br g” next to his name rather than “br c”.
Tifernati goes today in what might be quite a good race at Market Rasen. He’s taken well to hurdling and is fit. Gary was advising caution when I spoke to him, this morning - there’s a couple in the race that could be serious prospects. The conditions look to be in Tif’s favour - the ground looks perfect. I am, as always, hopeful…
5 Responses to “No good excuses”
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I feel for you, Bert, I really do. On paper Tifernati looked to have excellent prospects this afternoon, despite it being his first run over hurdles, but things just didn’t seem to go his way. From what Denis O’Regan said after the first race the ground was bordering on being soft, so perhaps there’s light at the end of the tunnel yet.
I’ve taken my first step into racehorse ownership over the weekend and have to say that your optimism is infectious - it’s desperately exciting. The horse isn’t anything to shout about, and her future is paved with gold, but to be involved with her is still something quite unbelievable.
Deviating completely, what are your thoughts on the BHA’s decision to throw upwards of £250,000 at the rebranding of racing? Is it fair to categorise racing’s current support as an army of ‘Brians’?
Have you thought about a chnge of scenery for Winker? A change of stables can sometimes restore a horses enthusiasm. Otherwise try every type of appliance available visor, tongue tie, cheek pieces etc
The Winker situation is desperately frustrating for you, Bert. I am going through something similar with a horse I have a small share in, he won twice and looked a real prospect (there was even some high faluting talk of Cheltenham…!) but since then has disappointed half a dozen times and just seems to be out of love with the game.
I think James’ idea about giving Winker a change of scenery holds some water. I’d be tempted to let one of the other trainers on your books have a go with him; that talent we all witnessed a couple of years ago must still be there somewhere and he’s certainly not worth retiring without being given another chance. And don’t forget the original Winker Watson was “the world’s wiliest wangler”. Perhaps your Winker has got too wily for his own good.
How about a go at hurdling? Might spark some life into him, I presume he would make a top class 2m hurdler if he takes to jumping. I agree james a change of scenery could do him the world of good.
Equi,
I think £250k is probably an acceptable sum to spend on this sort of excercise - racing is a big and valuable sport. I’m not sure about the Ben and Brian thing but from the little I’ve read there was some worthwhile thinking in the document.
I’d be a lot more positive about a drive to modernise racing than an effort to rebrand it though.
James,
we’re going to try cheek pieces on Saturday - they worked the oracle with his mother.
Michael,
the problem is that he’s incredibly well at home - he’s a star on the gallops (better than ever) and I think he’s genuinely happy with life. We’ll find out more on Saturday.
nufc,
I don’t think he’d stay - not many milers make it over hurdles.