Dangling The Carrot. Variety Club readies for first Dubai start
Well, as we speak I am on my way to Dubai to go and see Variety Club and I am there until his first run. I am looking forward to it and by all accounts, he is doing great. It is all systems go and I cannot wait to see him. I had better stop off at a high-class greengrocer on my way to make sure I have some good quality carrots for him when I arrive.
Met Day was a good day. Almost all our runners ran well. We were unlucky not to win a nice race in the J&B Stayers with Coltrane. He looks to be a really progressive horse and I think is a nice Cup horse for the future. He quickens, appears to stay and if we can just get him to travel more quietly (possibly take the blinkers off) then who knows? He could well be anything.
The Met itself did not go our way and King of Pain never travelled well enough to even get in the hunt. He probably finished fastest of all but sadly there are no prizes for doing that. We will now have to find some way to get him to travel better in a race. He is the sort of horse that will not travel well, regardless of the distance, but will always find a strong finish.
Full marks to the winner and, being lucky enough to train for Ingrid and Markus, it could not have happened to better people. It was a very interesting race with the way the results went and it was quite amusing – and frustrating – watching the race.
One has to wonder what goes through other people’s minds on horses that are travelling well when the winner is out in front with his ears flicking back and forth and just lopping along, has time to nip across to the other side of the racecourse and back again and still win with a ton in hand. You have to wonder what they are thinking. I certainly saw one trainer who was not happy with the way things went and the pace of the race and ultimately the pace spoilt what looked to be a very intriguing contest. However, no demerit points to the winner. He did it the hard way and boy, did he make it look easy.
From a personal point of view, one spends hours studying these big races and trying to decide how they will be run. Usually I am quite accurate and I definitely saw pace in the race. I saw horses drawn on the outside that had to make an effort to get into a decent position and chivy along the horse that had to go to the front. However, this did not happen and Anton was allowed to dictate and ride a truly special race. Full marks to him but disappointing for the rest of us.
The highlight of our day was the win with Happy Forever. It was great and as I said in my interview, to win for Martin and Gisela and Dharmish and Melissa, myself and my old mate, Andrew Fortune and his lovely girlfriend was something special. There is no more amusing owner than Andrew and Happy Forever is a truly brave and remarkable horse. Who knows; we might even have a crack at the Computaform.
I will try and send some blogs over from the Emirates. I will certainly have plenty of time on my hands.
